Welcome To The Family (Original Chapters Before Revision)
by cookiepandaluv
Summary: Evangeline "Eva" Emerson moves to Mystic Falls from Chicago in a secret search for her real family who gave her up for adoption. Not knowing where to start, she settles into the small town lifestyle. Luck is not on her side as she gets dragged into the drama that seems to be drawn into the seemingly quiet town. She quickly finds out one thing: something is wrong with this town.
1. Chapter 01

**AN:**

 **Yeah, so, I kinda regret deleting all my old chapters and restarting on the same story instead of just creating a new one, so I decided to be backwards and upload the original chapters here. Enjoy those of you who like the story before, especially if you're tired and frustrated at the fact that the rewrite is taking so long.**

* * *

"Evangeline!" I hear my mom call me from the floor below me of our new house.

We're originally from Chicago, Illinois, but I begged my parents to move to Mystic Falls, Virginia to find out more about my family. See, I was given up for adoption as soon as I was born, and just about a half a year ago, I found a picture hidden in an old toy that my father apparently left me. There were two men in it, one with black hair and crystal blue eyes, was almost completely identical to me, except for my light brown eyes of course. I suspected him to be my father due to the striking resemblance. The other man was somewhat older, with scruffy dark brown hair and eyes. On the back of the picture, there was the writing: Ethan and Zach, Mystic Falls.

"Evangeline!" I shook my head as my mom yelled for me again.

"I'm coming!" I yelled back. I go downstairs to find her smiling nervously in the kitchen. Hesitantly, I asked her, "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry sweetheart, but I just found out I'm going to have to stay mainly on campus with the students when I start teaching at Whitmore." Mom smiled apologetically at when when she said this.

Whitmore is the college she now teaches at since we moved; she teaches Psychology. My mom worked almost all of the time where we used to live, but she's never had to stay away from me, so I wasn't okay. Of course I wasn't going to tell her that, so I said, "It's alright mom. I'll be alright while you're gone."

"Oh, that's great honey. Well I have to leave tonight in order to be ready for classes tomorrow, but I'll be here long enough to see you when you get home from school. I want to hear all about your first day!" As soon as she mentioned school, my eyes widened.

"How could I forget?!" I yelled, as I ran back upstairs to my shoes. Putting them on quickly, I ran back down, grabbed my keys off the counter, got in my car, and drove off to school.

* * *

As I stood in front of Mystic Falls High School, I felt nervousness bubble up within me. Although it was the first day of school, this is my senior year, so of course everyone else will already know each other. Looking around, I saw a three girls to my left that seemed almost as nervous as I, but why? There was a perky looking blonde, a dark skinned one who looked upset, and another who had dark brown hair and olive skin. For some reason, I couldn't take my eyes off of them. It's as though they were… different.

"That's Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena, if you're wondering." I jumped as I heard a voice come from behind me. Embarrassed that I was caught, I turned around to see who the person was. He was very tall compared to my 4'9" height with blonde hair and baby blue eyes. "I'm Matt by the way." He said while sticking his hand out.

Taking his hand and shaking it, I smiled. "Evangeline, or Eva if you prefer."

"Nice to meet you Eva. Well, I have to go, but I'll see you later."

"Nice to meet you too, and see you later Matt."

As he walked away, I started to feel as though I was being watched, so I looked around until my light brown eyes met forest green ones. They belonged to a guy with styled brown hair and a blank stare. Feeling uncomfortable, I looked away from Mr. Creepy and walked into the school.

As I walked down the hallway, I heard a guy and girl arguing.

"No. But if I don't have a choice in the matter, then neither do you." Said a voice that made me shiver in fear.

I turned the corner as saw the couple: it was one of the girls from this morning, whose name I could not remember, and Mr. Creepy. "I said let go of me." She told him.

Just then a teacher came up. "Let her go." He said while moving him away. However, instead of listening, Mr. Creepy pushed him against the locker, making me squeak out and back away in surprise.

"Stefan, stop it!" Yelled the girl who I had forgotten about.

"You're not gonna want to get in my way. Okay Ric? I will see you both in history." Mr. Creepy, now known as Stefan walked off like nothing had happened.

Finally, the pair take notice of my wide eyed stare. As they came closer, I freaked out and sped away from them. It's only the first day, and this school already has me paranoid.

As I enter history class, I noticed blondie from this morning, the brunette from the hallway, Mr. Creepy who's now known as Stefan, and the teacher from the hallway all in the same class. Tensing, I went to sit at the opposite side of the room, away from all of them. From my seat, I could see them from the corner of my eye.

My attention is taken away from them, however, when the teacher, whose name I guessed was Mr. Saltzman from the writing on the board, began to talk. "Welcome back, seniors. Let's turn our brains back on, starting with this country's original founders... the Native Americans."

Just then, a gorgeous blonde girl strutted into the class and said, "What about the Vikings?" She sat down, but as she did, I noticed blondie and brunette look at her.

Without missing a beat, Mr. Saltzman answered her, "There's no evidence that Viking explorers actually settled in the United States. Who are you?"

With a smirk, she said, "My name's Rebekah. I'm new. And history's my favorite subject."

Noticing the looks that kept on being sent to her, I pursed my slips and sighed. This is going to be a long year.

* * *

I sat on the bleachers overlooking all the activities happening on the field. I looked upon everything with boredom until I saw the sassy blonde, who I remembered as Rebekah, do some very impressive gymnastic moves and end with a split. She then looks at blondie, I really need to learn her name, with a smile.

I laugh as quietly as I could when I saw this, until I heard the approaching voices of Stefan and the brunette arguing again.

"You think I'm annoying now? Wait till homecoming. Hey, who you bringing, by the way? I don't want to be weird." He asked her. I tried to look like I was doing work, and not eavesdropping, so I looked down and started writing.

Suddenly, I hear Stefan yell out, "Watch it, dick!" Startled, I looked up and saw that he was yelling at some random guy.

"Who are you?!" The brunette interrupts that though.

"I'm the guy who's been assigned to protect a human blood bag. I mean, no offense or anything." This made my eyes widen when he called her a human blood bag. What in the world did he mean by that? Unfortunately, I couldn't find out since she decided to walk away from him.

"What?!" He yelled to her. When he received no answer, he only shrugged. I looked back again as he turned around, but I could feel his eyes on me, so I looked up. As our eyes me, I bit my lip and clenched my hands. Suddenly, he started to approach me. Frightened, I got my things and tried to speed away, but he caught my arm, which made me squeak.

"Letting go." He said as he put his arms up in surrender. "I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Stefan."

"Evangeline." I said cautiously. "I, um, I should get going." I then went passed him, tense until I was no longer near the field.

* * *

I didn't know exactly why I came, but I was at some school bonfire. I felt completely out of place and alone.

"You don't look like you're having fun." I jumped slightly from fright when I heard the british accent. When I turned around, I saw Rebekah.

"Oh, well I don't know anyone here, so it isn't exactly fun." I gave her a half smile. "I'm Evangeline by the way. Or Eva as some call me."

She smiled and said, "Rebekah. It's a pleasure."

"So, why did you move here?" I asked a bit curious.

"My family had business to take care of." She said while staring at me. "And you?"

"I was adopted, and I found out my father may have lived here. So, I came to find out who my family is."

"Well, I've decided that I'm going to help you." She told me. "Family is very important. Plus, us girls have to stick together. Now I must take my leave, but I'll see you in class tomorrow."

"See you then Rebekah." I said with a giggle.

Looking at the time, I decided to head back home so I could talk to my mom before she leaves for Whitmore. However, it seems that I could not get a break from all things crazy in this town. There was a car on fire! I stood shocked as I saw the brunette from earlier and Mr. Saltzman.

"Elena! Elena! Open the door!" I heard Mr. Saltzman yell. I couldn't hear her response, but I noticed the door wasn't opening.

Mr. Saltzman rushed to another car to find something. He found a lacrosse stick and tried to break the door with it, but it didn't work. Suddenly, the fire became stronger. Instinctively, I screamed out, then covered my mouth. I notice Mr. Saltzman look at me with an expression of horror, but then the trunk of the car breaks open which distracts him. I then saw him helping the brunette get out

"Hurry up before it blows!" He yells to her. Turning to me, he yells at me, "You too! It isn't safe!"

"Wait! Wait, wait, wait!" I had started to back up until I heard her shout. I see her grab Stefan from the trunk. I run over to them to help her and Mr. Saltzman save him. We rush away from the car as quick as we can, and he car explodes.

I sit in my car covered in ashed a minor cuts. I barely even notice the tears streaking down my face until I feel a sting from a cut on my cheek. The shock had worn off as soon as I got in my car, but I've been sitting here for about five minutes. Suddenly, my phone's ringtone startles me, and I compose myself before answering. "Hello?"

"Sweetie, I'm sorry but I won't be able to see you when you get home, I have to leave now, but I love you alright?" It was my mom.

"Yeah, it's fine mom. I understand. I'm sorry I didn't go home sooner."

"It's alright. I will be able to come by on weekends so I'll just see you then alright?"

"Yeah, alright." I noticed Stefan was outside of my car door, so with a second of hesitation, I quietly let him in.

"Well, see you on the weekend. I love you." My mom told me.

"Yeah, love you too mom." I said back before hanging up the phone. I then turned to Stefan. "Um, hi?"

"I just wanted to say thanks for earlier. With helping me out of the car I mean." He said with a slight smile that seemed forced.

"You're welcome." I gave a smile back and he got out of the car.

"See you tomorrow then." He said, right before shutting my door and walking away. With that, I started the car and drove home.

"What have I gotten myself into." I muttered.


	2. Chapter 02

I woke up to a blaring alarm clock and tangled up in my blankets on the floor next to my bed. After ten minutes of whining and dreading to get up, and another ten minutes of trying to untangle myself from my blankets, I was finally up and deciding what to wear. After a quick change and taming my long curly hair, I went downstairs, only to stop in the kitchen. It was weird not having my mom here to greet me while she skitters around happily.

I was so lost in memory lane, that I barely noticed a bracelet on the counter. Walking up to it, I wondered how I didn't notice it the night before, but then I remembered how my brain basically turned into mush after almost being exploded. When I reached the counter, I saw that there was a note on the bracelet, which read: _A gift to keep me in your thoughts. It's kind of like a good luck charm, so you should keep it on at all times. Who knows, maybe some cute guy will sweep you off your feet ;) -Love Mom._ Picking up the bracelet, I saw that it was silver and had charms on it that seemed really light. It was cute. With a smile, I put it on.

Noticing the time, I picked up my keys from where I put them yesterday, got in my car and drove off. While driving, I noticed the town seemed in a very festive mood. Of course, I was confused as to why, but it still seemed nice. Maybe I'll get a break from all the weirdness.

* * *

I walk into Mystic Grill, which is a super cheesy name by the way, and looked around to familiarize myself with its layout since it was my first time here. Surprisingly enough, I spotted Mr. Saltzman sitting by the bar. He was next to a man that had black hair, and seemed familiar, but I just couldn't remember why. It bothered me. Well, after that quick scan, I sat down in a booth.

The sound of the door opening caused me to look up curiously. There was a VERY attractive guy with dark hair and striking blue eyes. After a short while of me checking him out, I noticed him looking at me with a raised eyebrow. Not wanting to show my embarrassment at being caught, I met his eyes and grinned. In response, he chuckled and walked to the bar. Unable to resist, I couldn't help but take a peek at his behind. Looking up, I noticed the guy next to Mr. Saltzman, who also has beautiful blue eyes, looking at me very amused. I only chuckled and stuck my tongue out then looked away.

Wanting something to do, but not really wanting to get anything, I reached into my pocket and took out my phone. I did a quick search to find out where the town's library and saved its location as a screenshot to visit sometime to find more information about my family. I then heard a crash of a glass and looked up. I was surprised to see Mr. Sexy, who I decided to call the guy who had caught my attention, looking very smug towards Mr. Saltzman's friend. I saw the glass surrounding him and decided they must not like each other very much. Though I was confused on why they seemed to talk to each other without looking angry. My curiosity burns within me, but I know it's best for me not to know what's going on, especially since I don't even know either of them. I would love to get to know more of Mr. Sexy though.

I go back ignoring what was happening, and go back on my phone to see if this town had other places I might like to visit. Of course I'm pretty much disappointed. Getting used to Mystic Falls was become a little difficult since I used to live in a city which had so much to do. After looking over everything and where they were at, I was thinking of leaving when someone sat down across from me. I looked up, and to my pleasure, I saw that it was Mr. Sexy himself.

"You seem new." He told me.

"I am." I said with a small smile. "I just recently moved here."

He stuck his hand out to me. "Mason."

Taking his hand, I simply said, "Evangeline, also known as Eva." After a quick moment, we both let go of each other.

"Well, since you're new to town, how about I show you around?"

"I'd like that"

"Great." He clapped his hands together. "Let's go then." He got up and offered me a hand.

Instead of replying to him, I simply took his hand and got up. Letting go, we started to walk out the door.

* * *

Mason ended up giving me a tour of the whole, which I'll most likely forget how to get to half of the places. Not to mention it was super hard to focus since I was distracted by Mason himself most of the time. I think he noticed of course. We had a lot of fun, and we ended up as some cellar that he said belonged to his family for years, who I found out were one of the founders of the town. We ended up staying in order to get to know each other more since we were alone, but of course one thing led to another, and now he's kissing me.

The kiss had gotten a lot more heated in the next few moments. He pushed me to the wall as our tongues met. When we ran out of breath and needed air, his mouth began to explore lower down my neck until he stopped when reached the crook of my neck. As be sucked on the skin there I felt tingles of pleasure shoot through me, only to gasp when he grasped by hips to pull my body against his. Moving his hands upward, he pulled my shirt off of me and through it somewhere behind him. As soon as it flew into the air, his mouth attacked mine with even more fervor than before. Soon, my hands began to roam over his body as well. When I reached his chest, I moved them under his shirt to feel his toned body, lightly raking my nails over his skin, making him shiver slightly. Quickly, his shirt came off, and he lifted me up by my thighs, to which I wrapped them around his body. Pushing me against the wall harder, I moaned as I felt the friction between our lower halves.

We were becoming more and more heated when we were interrupted by the guy from the bar. He came into the cellar with a shovel, and when he saw us he looked surprised. Mason let me down and we looked around for our shirts, then put them on when we found them. This time I wasn't able to hide my embarrassment as my face turned red.

"Soooo," he started. "I see someone was getting busy. Didn't think you'd forget about our meeting of course since you're the one who said to be here." He smirked teasingly.

"Oh shut up Damon." Was all Mason said.

Looking at me, he leaned on the shoulder and looked amused. "I'm Damon. And you are?"

"Her name's Eva. She's new to town." I looked at Mason with a slight glare and raised eyebrow at him for answering for me.

"Well Eva," He began, but paused to grab my shoulders and look into my eyes. His eyes began to dilate. "You're going to go home, forget about meeting me, and forget about Mason or even being here."

Stepping back, I broke out of his grasp with a glare. "You know, there's a thing called asking you ass."

Instead of getting angry, he only became surprised, while Mason laughed. "How the hell did you resist the compulsion?"

"The what?" He began to freak me out, so I moved away from him and closer to Mason. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Listen, this doesn't have to do with you, so why don't you just go home yeah?" He said once he saw my bracelet.

"You know what, fine!" Throwing my arms into the air, I stormed out of the cellar and started to walk home.

Once I got by the road though, I noticed a car slowing down and driving along side me. When I look, I see that it's Rebekah.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"Home." She might have sensed my anger, because the next thing she does is stop her car and open the door.

"Get in. I'm going to take you home, then you can invite me in, so you can tell me what happened."

* * *

Rebekah and I were now in my room sitting on my bed. We had a few snacks around us, and when I say we, I really mean mostly me.

"So, tell me what has you so angered." She demanded while leaning against my pillows that she propped up.

"Well, I was at the Mystic Grill. Then, this insanely attractive guy comes in and starts something with some other guy who was sitting next to Mr. Saltzman, you know, our history teacher. Anyway, after that he comes and introduces himself to me, which ended up with me getting a full tour of the town. Next thing I know, we're at some cellar he said belonged to his family for years. We were talking, but of course that lead to much more." She cut me off.

"Wait, you two had sex in some old cellar?"

I pursed my lips. "Well no, I wouldn't have let it go that far."

"Why not?"

"Well for one, like you said, we were in a cellar. Second, I'm not about to have my first time happen with some guy I just met while in said cellar."

"You're a virgin?" I was confused as to why she was so surprised at this, but I couldn't say anything since she started talking again. "Well then, continue with the story I guess."

"Oh, yeah. Well, as I was saying, it got pretty heated. We were interrupted by that same dude from the bar. He came in with a shovel and mentioned that Mason, the guy I was with, had told him to meet him there." I frowned as I thought of what happened next. "What happened next was super weird. He grabbed me, looked into my eyes and practically demanded that I leave, and I swear I saw his pupils dilate. Of course I gave him attitude. But then he said something about the compulsion, whatever that is, not working. Then he got weirder as he saw my bracelet."

Looking deep in thought, Rebekah lifted my arm to look at the bracelet. Then she muttered. "It's made of vervain."

"What's vervain." She had me curious.

"It's a plant. Listen, I'm going to tell you what's going on because I happen to like you." She let go of my arm and stared at me. At first I thought I was imagining it, but then I saw veins darken under her eyes, the white of her eyes turn red, the color of her eyes turn a color I didn't bother identifying. What freaked me out the most, however, were the fangs that came out of her mouth. Before I could start freaking out, she said, "I'm a vampire. Compulsion is a type of technique my kind uses like a type of mind control. The guy from the bar, he's most likely a vampire as well. And with the fact that he didn't react, your boy toy is either some supernatural being as well, or a vampire himself."

"Oh my gosh!" I didn't know what else to say. While I was in major shock, I couldn't help but super curious about everything now. "How old are you? What's it like? Who else is a vampire? How do you turn into one? How did _you_ turn into one?"

Before I could keep asking more questions, Rebekah cut me off. "Well aren't you and interesting little one. To answer your questions: I'm 1000 years old, I'll tell you about the others in a moment, you have to die with vampire blood in your body, and my family was the first vampires. We're known as the originals." After waiting a few minutes to let that sit in, she continued. "Now, I want to know the name of the vampire who tried to compel you? Also, what family did this Mason come from? If he's connected to who I think he is, I need to know what he was up to."

"He said his name was Damon. And Mason is a Lockwood, why? They didn't mention why they were there but it was the Lockwood cellar in the wood."

"Oh, so you've met Damon Salvatore. He was most likely there so try and find a way to save his precious little doppelganger, Elena. I don't know what's in the cellar, but I'll find out. Oh, and by the way, Mason Lockwood comes from a long line of werewolves. If he knows Damon, chances are that he already triggered his gene."

"Wait, who's Elena again, and why does she need saving? Also, what do you mean by 'triggered his gene'? And what other things are there?" I was so confused by all of this information, but I was dying to learn more and more.

"Elena is the one Stefan, who's also a vampire and Damon's brother, keeps following around because of my brother's orders. Those two, and well as Caroline, a baby vampire, and Bonnie, a witch, are trying to kill my brother and possibly me. See, my brother is the Original Hybrid, and he needs Elena's doppelganger blood in order to create more of her kind. But oh so forbid anything happens to poor little Elena. Her friends don't like this, so they want him dead. Also, the werewolf genes in people are dormant until they trigger the gene, which requires the werewolf to take a human life." She stopped to take a sip of a drink I never even noticed she had. "In the world, and to my current knowledge, there are vampires, werewolves, witches, travelers, hunters, doppelgangers, ghosts, and now hybrids. Now, that's enough explaining for one day. I have to ask you a favor now."

* * *

I was at the entrance of the Lockwood cellar again. Rebekah had asked me to try and see what Damon and Mason were trying to find. Taking a silent breath, I walked in and followed their voices until they became louder and louder. Suddenly, all I heard was Damon.

"No, no, no, no. No, where'd you go? Mason, Mason!" As I looked to see what happened, I saw that Mason was no where to be seen.

Wanting answers as to what happened, I blurted out, "What the hell?"

"What the hell are you doing here? Your boy toy isn't here." I would have been insulted, if it wasn't for the fact that I was pretty sure he was pouting.

"Yeah, I can see that, but he was just here! What, so werewolves have some sort of invisibility thing going on or something?!" I shouldn't have said that last part, because then Damon's face did the exact same thing Rebekah's did, and next thing I know he's in front of me with his hand around my neck.

"How do you know about werewolves. What, does Klaus use humans as his little spies now?"

"Rebekah just told me." I struggled to speak. "Wait, who the hell is Klaus?"

Shocked, he loosened his grip slightly. Taking advantage, I took out a small water gun I had hid in the back of the waistband of my jeans. I quickly sprayed Damon with the vervain filled water that Rebekah thankfully supplied me after I told her my idea. As he backed up and yelled in pain, I ran passed the area that I noticed he couldn't get through. Panicking, I looked around to find some drawings on the wall. Wanting to leave already after that near death experience, I took pictures of everything with my phone. Going back, I stopped a few feet away from Damon, and sprayed him with the rest of the vervain water in the gun.

Running outside, I headed to where Rebekah said she would be waiting, and almost cried in relief as I reached her. "Oh my gosh, I almost died!"

"Don't be so dramatic." She said this with a wave of her hand. "What did you find."

"I didn't really have a chance to look at it, but I took pictures." I was gasping for breath as I said this.

"Well then, what are we waiting for. Let's go back to your house."


	3. Chapter 03

I woke up sprawled across Rebekah on my livingroom floor and confused. I didn't even realize we had fell asleep last night. There were papers spread all around us of the pictures I had took at the cellar. All of a sudden, my phone began ringing obnoxiously.

"Eva, make the bloody thing stop." Rebekah moaned from under her cocoon of covers.

Checking the time, I saw that we slept a lot longer than we had intended. "Uhh, Rebekah it's almost time for your cheerleading practice."

"Stupid school." Groaning, she got up very zombie like. "Are you coming with?"

Shrugging, I agreed. "Sure. I have nothing else to do."

Rolling off of her, I went up to my room to grab some clothes and take a shower. While I was in the shower, I hadn't realized that I was taking long until Rebekah came into the bathroom and opened up the curtain.

"Rebekah!" She surprised me, which made me jump, which led to me slipping and falling. "Ow." With a raised eyebrow and a shake of the head, she left while trying not to laugh at me. Not wanting to risk her coming back and possibly giving me a heart attack, I got out and finished getting ready. When I got downstairs, I didn't see her anywhere, so I walked out to find her waiting for me in her car.

"You're very slow." As soon as I got into the car she had spoken.

I stuck out my tongue at her. "Well, you're just fast." I turned on the radio before she could respond, then we were off.

* * *

I was sitting a few ways away from Rebekah and the other cheerleaders when I saw Elena, Rebekah drilled everyone's names into my head last night, approach her.

Spotting her, Rebekah says, **"** You! Goody."

Elena ignored this. "I was hoping we could talk."

"About what? Stefan? Don't worry, I'm off him until he starts treating me better. In fact, you should probably take a page out of my book, if I'm being honest." I wanted to laugh for some reason. Maybe it has something to do with Elena? Honestly, for some reason her presence really annoyed and bothered me.

"Actually, I'd rather talk about this." She held up something, but I wasn't sure what. "I'm curious why you and Klaus have spent a thousand years running from your father." This is news to me.

"I should get back to the girls. Homecoming's right around the corner." Rebekah turned to leave, but not without sparing me a glance first.

"Well then, maybe I'll ask Mikael when we wake him." Yeah, it's official, I REALLY don't like Elena now. She's said it herself, Rebekah has been running from him, at least I assume that's her father that was mentioned, yet she is still trying to do something with him? That doesn't sound right. No matter what Rebekah and Klaus has done to her. Hearing that name made me remember that I forgot to ask Rebekah who he was, although I'm assuming he's the brother she mentioned.

Shocked at what she heard, Rebekah turned back around. "You're bluffing! You don't know where he is. No one does."

"So, then who's rotting in that old cemetery in Charlotte?" I feel like slapping Elena right now, and I don't even know her. For a slight moment, I felt guilty, but then I remembered what she was doing.

"If you wake Mikael, we are _all_ doomed!" Rebekah actually sounded… scared? For some reason, this truly bothered me even though I didn't know her for all that long. It seems that she grew on me.

"So then, tell me." I closed my eyes.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Why don't you want me to wake him?"

"I need to get back to the girls." I could hear the hesitation as she said this.

* * *

After her cheerleading practice, Rebekah and I had went to a house she said belonged to Damon and Stefan, which also happens to be where she's staying. Taking advantage of this time, I asked her who Klaus was.

"Nik is my older brother. He's the Original Hybrid that I spoke about. He used Elena's blood to break a curse that our mother put on him, also killing Elena's aunt in the process. Of course, he also changed Stefan, so of course Elena and her little bodyguards don't like us. Well, we did also turn Tyler Lockwood into a werewolf, but he's fine."

I was going to ask more, but then a group of girls wearing dresses walked in with blank expressions. Rebekah was making them model for her, so I figured she compelled her own fashion show. Huh, seemed handy. Just then, I heard the door opened and in came Little Miss Sunshine, that's Elena of course. We went to meet her in the foyer, Rebekah with a glasses of champagne. I wonder where she got those from.

"Hey! What's up?" She asked cheerfully.

"You invited me over? To talk?" Her voice annoys me.

"Alright girls, have at it!" Rebekah just chooses to ignore her which causes me to laugh. This made Elena look at me confused, but I just ignored her.

The six girls in the homecoming dresses then walked in the room. Elena, of course, of scoffed in annoyance. Tired of her presence, I rolled my eyes and went to sit on the couch.

Rebekah continued commanding the girls. "Okay, now twirl please."

"You compelled your own private runway show?" She was in disbelief now.

"I need a Homecoming dress. So, what do you think? Pick one."

"I'm not here to help you shop. I'm here to talk about why you don't want me to wake up Mikael." Rebekah rushed to one of the girls, grabbed her neck and 'vamped out'.

"I said 'pick one', Elena."

"The... red one." I grinned. Oh, how I found pleasure in her fear. Ahh, maybe I should stop with the evil thoughts? I'm starting to weird myself out now.

"There. It wasn't so hard, was it?" She turned to the girls. "Go away. Remember nothing." After the girls left, Rebekah turned back to Elena. "You do not threaten me. You'll learn what I allow you to learn. Is that clear?"

Elena nodded at this. Rebekah just walked past her, while she turned and watched her. Of course I just bounced right off where I was sitting to follow her. It was awkward being alone with Elena since I didn't actually know her. When I found Rebekah, she was in a room that she introduced as Stefan's when she gave me a tour earlier. Elena entered shortly after.

"How fun is this...?" Rebekah starts to open drawers. I was half curious, but my other half that wanted to respect privacy won me over before I joined her.

"We shouldn't be here…" For once, I agreed with something I hear Elena say. Huh, I just realized we never introduced ourselves to each other.

"'Course we should! Come on, like you've never wanted to snoop." She just had to hold up Stefan's underwear at that moment. "Boxer briefs. A lot has changed since the twenties."

"Are you gonna root through his stuff all night or are you gonna start to tell me your story?" Someone is getting impatient. Then again, I'm a bit curious myself.

"Ah... you really are no fun. What do you want to know?"

"Well, Elijah said that your father was a landowner in Europe. How did you guys end up here?"

Rebekah was still going through Stefan's stuff as she spoke. "My parents had just started a family, when a plague struck their homeland. They lost a child to it. They wanted to escape and protect their future family from the same fate."

"So, how did you end up here? This part of the world hadn't even been discovered yet." I decided to sit on the bed and listen closely.

Rebekah laughed at her question, which made me pout. "Not by anyone in your history books. But my mother knew the witch Ayana, who heard from the spirits of a mystical land where everyone was healthy... blessed by the gifts of speed and strength; that lead my family here, where we lived amongst those people."

"The werewolves?"

"To us, they were just our neighbors. My family lived in peace with them for over 20 years, during which time my family had more children, including me." For some reason, I got really curious to know how her family looked as children.

"You make it sound so normal."

"It was." She paused. "Once a month our family retreated into the caves beneath our village. The wolves would howl through the night and by morning we'd return home. One full moon, Klaus and my youngest brother Henrik snuck out to watch the men turn into beasts. That was forbidden. Henrik payed the price. That was the beginning of the end of peace with our neighbors."

"That's so horrible." I couldn't help but interrupt. I couldn't understand how Rebekah didn't break down while telling this story. I even felt like I was going to cry.

"Wait, I'm sorry, but who are you again?" Elena decided to stop Rebekah as she was about to continue.

"I'm Eva. I'm sorta new to Mystic Falls, and we have a few classes together." I pursed my lips. "Now, can you not interrupt when you were the one nagging Rebekah to tell the story?"

"Anyway, that was one of the last moments my family had together as humans." Rebekah continued. But of course Elena's phone just had to ring. "You better get that. That'll be Damon checking up on you."

She answered her phone. "Hello?" There was a pause. "Damon, where are you?" I could distantly hear some music playing from the other end, but that was pretty much it. "Yes, I'm fine, but I can't talk right now." Elena seemed to listen closer as she seemed to hear something. "Is that Stefan?" Her faced changed to anger and shock. "Damon! How could you let him out?"

Rebekah and I got tired of waiting, so we started going through one of Stefan's diaries when Elena interrupted us. "Did you get your fill of snooping yet? Can we get on with the story?"

Ignoring her, Rebekah got up and she picked up a photo of Elena and Stefan from a table. "Honestly, I don't get you two as a couple."

"Why would you? You don't know anything about who he really is."

"I know exactly who he is. He's a vampire. We're a predatory species." She leaned closer to Elena, so I couldn't really hear what else she said, but I did see Elena glance at me twice.

"Is that why you did that runway show earlier? 'Cause you don't care about the Homecoming Dance." She waited for an answer. "You know what, I'm just gonna go."

"You haven't even heard half the story."

"And you are not going to tell it. You're just bored and looking for someone to push around. Find someone else to play with." She then looked at me. "You already compelled yourself a friend." She started to leave. I glared at her back. I was so not compelled.

"The necklace wasn't Stefan's to give. It belonged to the Original Witch." This is where Rebekah lost me a bit.

Elena looked shocked as she turned around. "The one who put the hybrid curse on Klaus?" Oh, that makes more sense.

"Not just the hybrid curse. She's the one who turned us into vampires." Contemplating for a moment, Rebekah said, "I'm thirsty. Do either of you want a drink?" She went down to the library with the two of us following behind her.

"So, vampirism was a form of protection?" Elena asked.

"What else would it be?"

"A curse?"

"My parents only saw a way of keeping their children alive." That's an interesting way to look at vampirism, but not exactly bad.

"Yeah, but why stay, if they were so afraid of the werewolves? Why not... leave?" Judging from his name, I guessed that her father was a viking, meaning: running went against what he believed in.

"Pride... My father didn't want to run anymore. He wanted to fight and be superior to the wolves. Where they could bite, we had to bite harder. Where they had speed, we had to be faster. Agility, strength, senses…" I was right. "Mother tried to get help from the witch Ayana, but she refused. It was left in her hands."

"n her hands? How could she do anything?"

"Because my mother was also a witch."

"What?" I was as shocked as she was.

"The witch of the Original Family. The Original Witch?" We ended up at the library.

Searching through shelves, Rebekah asked, "Where do they keep their best vintage?"

Ignoring her, Elena instead continued on with the previous subject. "But if your mother was a witch, then…"

"Am I? No, a witch is nature's servant; a vampire is an abomination of nature. You can either be one or the other, never both. My mother did this for us. She did not turn." Then why did she turn her own children if this was true?

"How did you turn?" Basically, how did she die?

"She called upon the sun for life, and the ancient white oak tree, one of nature's eternal objects, for immortality. That night, my father offered us wine laced with blood. And then he drove his sword through our hearts." I gasped in horror, but was ignored.

Elena was stunned as well. She whispered, "He killed you?"

"And he wasn't delicate about it either." I cringed as she took a bottle of wine, broke its neck off and threw it into the fireplace. "We had to drink more blood to complete the ritual."

Rebekah turned to the both of us, and suddenly looked as though she were lost in her memories. "It was euphoric! The feeling of power was indescribable... but the witch Ayana was right about the consequences. The spirits turned on us, and nature fought back. For every strength there would be a weakness. The sun became our enemy. It kept us indoors for weeks. And though my mother found a solution, there were other problems. Neighbors who had opened their homes to us could now keep us out. Flowers at the base of the white oak burned, and prevented compulsion. And the spell decreed that the tree that gave us life could also take it away, so we burned it to the ground. But the darkest consequence was something my parents never anticipated. The hunger. Blood had made us reborn, and it was blood that we craved above all else. We could not control it. And with that, the predatory species was born."

"Why did Mikael start hunting Klaus?" Elena had asked after a moment of silence.

"When Nik made his first human kill, it triggered his werewolf gene. With that, he became my father's greatest shame."

"Yeah... Elijah told me this part of the story. Your mother had had an affair with one of the werewolf villagers. Klaus wasn't his son." She mentioned him before, but who was Elijah?

"She tried to make it right. She put the hybrid curse on Nik to suppress his werewolf side, and then she turned her back on him. But Mikael's greatest weakness as a human was his pride. As a vampire, that was magnified. He went on a rampage and killed half the village. Then he came home and killed her."

Elena whispered again as she became stunned. "Mikael killed your mother?"

"He said she broke his heart so he would break hers. He tore it from her chest as Nik watched." I stared at Rebekah, and wondered how she could be so composed. "Afterwards, my father took off in a rage, and the rest of my family scattered. Nik stayed, so he could help me bury her. He knew I had to say goodbye to my mother. It was then that we made our promise. Elijah, Nik, and I vowed to stand by each others side, always and forever."

"Always and forever... even though he locked you in a coffin for 90 years?" This was news to me as well.

"We're vampires. Our emotions are heightened. I'm stubborn, Elijah moral, and Nik... Nik has no tolerance for those who disappoint him. Over a thousand years as a family we've all made that mistake at least once. I've made it several times."

"But you still love him?" The unconditional love of family.

"He's my brother. And I'm immortal. Should I spend an eternity alone instead?" Rebekah's demeanor suddenly changed. "You've heard the story, it's time to go. I said leave, Elena! I don't know what you're up to, but I'm no longer playing along."

"I'm just looking for one good reason why we shouldn't wake Mikael." Is she really serious?! Rebekah just told her so many!

"And I've given you a thousand! But you will anyway. I know you want him to help you kill my brother, I'm not stupid." Rebekah's anger grew.

"It's no secret that I want Klaus dead. He has a hold over Stefan's life, and over mine."

"Do what you need. Wake Mikael at your own peril. But make no mistake, if you come after my brother, I will rip you apart. And I get my temper from my father. Now leave!" As she yelled, I jumped from fright. While I wasn't scared of Rebekah, I was definitely scared of what she could do. This heightened that.

Rebekah was pouring herself a glass of scotch as I was reading some random book I found. I was laying on the couch with my legs hanging off the armrest when Elena entered with some photos.

Rebekah spoke first. "I thought I told you to leave. Twice."

Of course Elena ignored that. "How do you know that Michael killed your mother?"

"Nik was there. He told me." I rolled off the couch in an attempt to get up since the conversation started turning more serious, but of course I terrible failed and only landed on my ass.

"He lied to you." My eyes widened as I heard this. If it was true, it would kill Rebekah.

"And how do you know that?"

"The cave where you carved your family's names is covered in symbols." She showed us the photos she had in her hands. "The story of your family: how your parents arrived, how they made peace, the spell that turned them into vampires, and this. This is the symbol for hybrid. It's a combination of the werewolf and the vampire symbol. And this is the one for your mother."

"Her necklace." Rebekah was staring at them with no emotion. "We've already seen these Elena."

"This is the story of her death. The hybrid killed the Original Witch. Not Mikael. Klaus."

"No! No, he wouldn't." She was in denial now.

Elena, being the idiot she seems to be, only continued. "She put the curse on him, made it so that he would be the only one of his kind, and then she rejected him. With the werewolf gene comes aggression and violence... when he turned, all of that was heightened. He killed her, Rebekah. And then he made up this entire lie about your father, so that he wouldn't lose you."

"These mean nothing! They're just stupid drawings, done by stupid people who had no idea who my family was!" She took the photos, tore them to pieces, and threw them into the open fire.

"Then why are you so upset?"

I went up to Elena. "Elena stop! Just go already." She was pushing Rebekah too much.

Elena ignored me and stood her ground. Rebekah yelled again. "Why are you doing this to me? I've done nothing to you!"

"Klaus killed your mother. He has a hold on you, on me, on everyone. He has for a thousand years. We have to make it stop!" I looked at her in shock. She can't be using this to try and manipulate Rebekah; it isn't right.

Rebekah had enough, so she grabbed Elena by the throat and out came her fangs. "Shut up! Shut up! Don't talk anymore! Nothing!" After a few tense moments, she stopped. Calming down slightly, she let go of Elena. She began to gasp, falling onto her knees while sobbing. Elena lat least had the decency to looks guilty. Shoving Elena out of the way with a glare, I knelt next to Rebekah and held her. This was wrong. Yes her brother shouldn't have lied to her, but Elena can't possibly expect Rebekah to just kill her own brother that she's been with for 1000 years. Finally after some minutes, Elena left, leaving Rebekah broken with me trying to comfort her. I decided then, that no matter what, I will be by her side to help her.


	4. Chapter 04

"I don't see why you couldn't have just gotten a dress from one of the girls what were at the house." Rebekah and I were in some town outside of town looking at dresses. When she found out that I hadn't gotten a dress yet, she practically kidnapped me.

"None of them were really my style. They weren't exactly me." I said as I looked through the racks of clothing in front of me. I pouted. "I'm never going to find a dress. Maybe I shouldn't go. I mean it's not like I even have a date either."

"You're in no need of a date. You will walk in that dance and make people wish they were your date." She then made a face and walked past me.

"Where are you going?" I was confused, but she only ignored me and kept walking.

When she finally walked back, she grinned and held up a dress. I was in awe of it. The dress was a short, but would be just a few inches above my knees due to my height. It had a semi-sweetheart neckline that was tight, and it was tightened towards the waist. From there, it flowed outward. Covering the dress was a layer of mesh over it, giving the botton more of a layered look. It was sleeveless and clipped around the neck with an open back. I thought it was perfect. "Judging from the look on your face, I'm going to assume that you love it. Now lets pay so we can head back and start getting ready."

As we were approaching Mystic Falls, Rebekah's phone rang. Winking at me, she pressed a finger to her lips and answered the phone while putting it on speaker.

"Yes?" She answered.

"We have a plan to take down Klaus, and we wanted to know if you're going to help us, or be against us." It was Elena.

After a moment, Rebekah decided. "I'll help you."

"Thank you, Rebekah." She sounded grateful. "Meet us at the boarding house now. As soon as you do, we'll tell you the plan and get it started." After that she hung up.

After driving in siling for about ten more minutes, I decided to speak up. "Are you sure you'll be able to go through with their plan?" I looked at her. "He is your brother after all."

"I can do this." She seemed to be assuring herself more than me. "I have to do this for my mother."

"Then I'll do whatever I can to help and support you. Even if I am just a human, I'll try my best." I grinned at her.

Turning to the road, I saw that we had finally reached the boarding house. As we got out of the car, I felt nervous. Sure, I've met Elena and Damon before, but what others would there be? Without knowing, I had moved slightly closer to Rebekah. When we got inside, I saw Elena, Damon, Stefan, and a desiccated looking body with a dagger lodged in his chest.

"What is she doing here?" Stefan asked Rebekah. I quickly became annoyed at him.

" _I'm_ here with Rebekah obviously." I glared at him. He only rolled his eyes.

"Well, now that you two are done, here's the plan: We've daggered Papa Original, with his permission of course, we're then going to call Klaus and tell him he's here, un-dagger Mikael, bring him here as proof, and then Mikael stakes him." Damon decided to explain the plan straight to the point.

"So that's Mikael." I murmured to myself. I walked over to his body and knelt beside it. I stared at the black veins on skin of his face; I was transfixed. Curiously, I started poking his cheek continuously.

"What… are you doing?" I heard Elena's voice, so I looked up to see everyone staring at me. I could feel my cheeks heating up in embarrassment. I quickly got up and awkwardly walked towards them.

"Anyway." Damon dragged it out for a few seconds. "It's show time."

Stefan picked up his phone and began to call Rebekah's brother. Soon, he picks up. I'm assuming he says something first because Stefan stood there listening for about a minute. Then, he said, "Your father is dead." After a second of listening to a response, he smirked. "Oh, my mistake. Not your actual father and not dead. Mikael. Daggered. What do you want me to do with the body?" After listening to another response, Stefan began to tell him that he had come after Elena, and they daggered him. It didn't sound completely possible to me since Rebekah did say that the older the vampire the stronger, but oh well.

After Stefan finished explaining, whatever Klaus said made Damon smirk. I started wishing for their vampire hearing; I'm curious as to what's being said. Then, Stefan spoke again. "Well, he is here. Come by whenever."

Whatever Klaus said next, it made Stefan stop and think. "It's true. I saw it with my own eyes." Stefan seemed to be relieved that he said this. Maybe it had to do with the compulsion Rebekah was telling me about. I couldn't dwell on it for too long though since Stefan spoke again. "That's not a problem. She is right here."

Stefan handed the phone over to Rebekah. "Hello Nik." She seemed like she wanted to be angry with him, but she didn't want to ruin the plan. After hearing a response, she spoke again. "It's true. He's finally out of our lives for good. I miss you. I'm miserable here."

It almost sounded like she was pouting. "Good. I'll see you then, brother." She then hung up the phone and gave it back to Stefan. "He bought it. He's coming home."

"Now, was that easy or what?" Damon started to brag.

Elena just rolled her eyes. "Let's just get this over with." After saying that, she pulled the dagger out of Mikael's chest.

Rebekah looked towards me. "Are you going to get ready here, or at your house?"

I thought for a moment, biting my lip. "I think I'll go home. I'll walk."

Pulling a face, Rebekah hooked her arm around mine and dragged me to the door. "Fine. Let me take you to get your bags out of my car then."

Once we were outside, we walked to her car. Thinking about what she said before we walked out, I became confused. "Wait, bags? As in plural?"

"Of course. I saw a pair of shoes that would look perfect with your dress, so I just had to get it."

I was surprised. "Wow. Thanks."

Smirking playfully she handed me the two bags. "There's also something special for your hair, but don't look until you're home. It's a surprise."

"Of course." I laughed and started to walk away. "See you at the dance."

She mimicked me. "Of course."

* * *

I was halfway to my house when I ended up bumping into Matt, literally. I stumbled a bit, but luckily for me, I didn't fall, which was great. I don't think I could take anymore embarrassment that night.

"Woah, Eva are you alright?" Matt and I had gotten to know each other a lot more once we realized we shared a class together, although we've never spoken outside of that unfortunately.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry I guess I wasn't really paying attention." I laughed it off. Of course it wasn't until I felt lighter that I realized I had dropped the bags. I picked up the one Rebekah gave me and moved to pick up the other when he got if for me.

"Here you go." He gave it to me. "What'd you go shopping for anyway?"

"Just last minute shopping for the dance later." I pursed my lips, which I noticed had become a habit of mine.

"Oh! Hey, who are you going with anyway?" I slowly started walking towards my house, and he walked along with me.

"Me, myself, and I." I smiled. "I don't really know many people, and while I talk to Rebekah, she's going with some guy on the football team."

"Well, I happen to not have a date either. We could go together?" We had reached my house, so I stopped walking and turned to face him.

"That'd be great." I smirked playfully. "Although, I hope you know I'm going to expect the full homecoming date experience."

He mocked a bow. "As you wish, my lady." He ended with a grin and a wink which made me laugh. "I'll see you soon then."

"Bye Matt." I stood on the tips of my toes, despite wearing heels, to give him a peck of the cheek, and turned to go inside.

As I went inside and closed the door behind me, I grinned and gave a slight squeal of excitement. More eager now, I all but ran upstairs to my room. Putting the bags down on my bed, I started pulling off my clothes while walking to my bathroom to shower. After I was done, I dried myself and my hair, and put on my underwear. Walking back into my room and to my table, I connected my phone into a speaker and began to play music in order to fill the silence. Smiling sadly to myself, I wished my mother was there to see everything, but of course she wasn't.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I went over to the bags, took out the dress, and put it on. It was a perfect fit. After admiring it, I went over to my table and sat down on a chair. It was makeup time. I normally didn't do anything besides natural, but I decided to add winged eyeliner to my top lid, and bold red lipstick. When I was done, I stared at my hair for a few minutes before finally choosing to straighten it, and put it in a half up and half down style. I had left my fringed bangs falling normally over the the right side of my face. Finally, I went over to my bed to open the bag Rebekah had given me.

The first thing I pulled out of the bag was the shoes she picked out for me. I almost dropped them from shock as soon as I first saw them. They were Louboutin red bottom platform pumps! The shoe itself was black and were open toed. It also had small grey leather straps criss-crossing over the front. As though they were fragile, I put them on with extra care.

The last two things I found were a pair of earrings and a decorative hair comb. The earrings were made of clear and aurora borealis crystals that cascaded down in a dramatic drop. The hair comb was a shiny silver with diamonds that sparkled brightly. They formed swirls that rested just above where my hair was placed upon my head when I put it on. Connected to those swirls, were thin strands of silver that had tiny crystals spaced down it. The strands mixed in with the rest of her hair.

As I was making sure everything was in place, I heard the doorbell ring. Quickly disconnecting my phone from the speaker, to where the screen lit up and I saw I took hours to get ready, I walked downstairs. When I opened the door, I saw Matt with a black suit, white shirt, and a striped tie.

He was the first one to speak. "Wow, you look amazing."

I smiled and bit my lip. "Thank you. Of course you look pretty great yourself."

Grinning, he stepped back as I walked out and closed my door behind me. "I hope you don't mind, but there was a flood in the gym, so the the dance was moved to the Lockwood mansion."

"I don't mind at all." We got into his car and drove off.

* * *

Matt and I finally got to the party not too long after we left my house. When we got out, Matt held out his arm for me to take with a smile.

Turning to Matt, I slid my hands to his wrist and started to pull him slightly. "Let's dance."

He laughed and went to follow me along, but then he spotted Blondie, whose name I forgot again. "Actually, one moment. I'm sorry I just need to talk to Caroline for a moment. Don't move, I'll be right back."

I pouted a bit but nodded anyway. Since I was standing alone, I began to look around for Rebekah. I didn't see her anywhere, so I began to worry.

Suddenly, I hear a male's English accent behind me. "You look awfully troubled, love. This is a party you should be having fun." As I turned to look at him, I saw he had curled dirty blond hair and light blue eyes.

Based on his familiar features I made a guess. "You're Rebekah's brother, Klaus."

He raised an eyebrow. "How do you know my sister? Also, you know my name, but I have yet to learn yours."

"We're friends." I then saw Matt coming back, so I let out a small smile. "And I'm Eva."

"Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, but I need to get going. Goodbye, little one." As he walked away, I glared at him for the nickname.

Finally, Matt came back. "You know him?" He looked towards Klaus.

I shook my head. "Well, I know he's Rebekah's brother, but that was my first time meeting him."

"Alright then. Anyway, do you still want that dance." He held out his hand to me.

Smiling wide, I grabbed it. "Not just one silly. I plan to have many."

* * *

We ended up dancing throughout almost the whole entire time. I had so much fun, that I almost forgot about the plan to get rid of Klaus. I did, however, push it away from the center of my mind so I could enjoy the dance. Just as I glanced around for Rebekah again, as I had been doing every now and then, a slower song started to play. In response, I stepped closer to Matt and leaned my head on him as he repositioned his hand in mine and placed his arm around me.

"Are you having a good time?" He asked me.

I looked up at him. "Of course. In fact, it's been great."

"I'm glad." After he said this, he looked uncertain for a moment. When I was about to ask why, he let go of my hand and cupped my cheek. Out of habit, I bit my lip as he began to lean in. I barely even noticed that we stopped dancing. Suddenly, he grinned and pressed his lips to mine. As we kissed, I put one of my arms around his neck, and the other on his shoulder.

Out of no where, a guy came up to us and yelled for Matt. Matt and I separated from each other as he came closer. I couldn't help but smile a bit from what happened.

The guy reached us and looked at Matt. He had dark hair and dark eyes. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need your help." He then looks at me. "I'm Tyler, by the way."

"Eva." I gave a small wave.

"Oh! Rebekah told me about you. If you don't mind helping too then?"

"Wait, Tyler, you haven't even told us what you want us to do." Matt jumped into the conversation.

"I need you to get Caroline out of here. She's in my room, just follow me." With that he started walking. With a glance at each other, we followed. We ended up following Tyler through the house and up the stairs into his bedroom.

"What'd you do to her?" Caroline was unconscious on the bed.

"It's just vervain. She'll be fine. But I need you to get her out of here as fast as possible." Tyler seemed spazzy for some reason.

"What's going on?" Matt demanded.

"Something`s going down against Klaus and this house is full of hybrids like me that can't let anything happen to him." After hearing this, my eyes widened. Tyler saw this and narrowed his eyes. "You know something." I didn't answer.

Matt interrupted, but not before sending me a questioning look. "What do you mean can't?

"I can't explain it. I can't fight against it. I just know that I need to protect him no matter who gets in my way." What he said sounded familiar.

"Oh!" I yelled out, and they both looked at me. "It's a sire bond."

Tyler and Matt spoke at the same time. Tyler saying, "What the hell is a sire bond?" and Matt saying, "How do you know about this?"

"Rebekah explained everything to me." I decided to answer Matt first. "She said that a sire bond is a type of link between the creator and the creation. It's where the creation, Tyler, follows the direct and indirect orders of their creator, which is Klaus."

They stared at me for a few minutes. "Well, anyway, like I said I have to protect him." Tyler went back to what he said before.

"By attacking Caroline?" Matt pointed to her.

"I'm protecting her, Matt! This is the only way to keep her safe. Please. Just get her out of here safely. Get everyone out." With that, Tyler left and Matt picked up Caroline.

* * *

"So, you've known for a while everything that's been going on?" Matt and I were in my room clarifying everything. We came over here after we took Caroline home.

"Yeah. I mean not exactly every person involved, so just the main things." I was playing with the ends of my dress due to being nervous.

"That makes things easier then." He looked at me.

I was confused though. "For what?"

Instead of answering, Matt grabbed the back of my head and smashed out lips together. Almost immediately, I responded by climbing onto his lap to where my legs were on either side of him. We quickly broke apart for air. As we stared at each other, he grinned and I smirked, before our lips met again and again. As they did, things got more and more heated. Our clothes lessened little by little until we were only left in our underwear.

Matt pulled away from me slightly to look at me. The moment slowed down, and my heart began racing. I think Matt understood my nerves, because his eyes widened. He rested his forehead against mine and looked into my eyes. Making a final decision, I bit my lip, which caught his attention, and kissed him hard. Without pulling away, he pushed me down onto my bed with a renewed intensity. With that, all other clothing was discarded along with any doubts or second guesses.


	5. Chapter 05

As I wake up, I realize that I was laying on someone. It took me just a few seconds to remember what happened the night before. I smiled as I felt Matt's arms around me tighten, and I opened my eyes. When I looked at his face, I noticed that he was wide awake and grinning. I felt a blush rise. I went to roll off of him so I could shower, but he only tightened his arms more and ended up rolling with me.

I pouted at him. "Let me go?"

"No." He buried his head into my neck. "Let's stay a bit longer."

"I'll come back then if you want. I just wanna shower." I may have whined a bit.

Suddenly, I feel him kissing my neck and softly sucking on it. He pressed more of his weight onto me, though not too much so he wouldn't crush me. I felt his arms unwrap themselves from around me. One hand holds my hip, while the other grabbed my thigh and wrapped it around him. I began to breathe harder and become warmer as he did this. Then, I felt him smile, and he lifts me up with his to stand. I wrap my arms around his neck, and both legs around him on instinct so I wouldn't fall. My face became flushed again.

"Then let's go." Was all he said as he carried me.

* * *

Matt and I were currently at the Library. After we had finally gotten dressed, Matt offered to come with me when I told him where I was going. We were looking for any records of who Ethan or Zach could be.

"You said you had a picture of them, right?" Matt looked up me. "Can I see it?"

"Oh!" I realized showing him before we started to search would have been a smart thing to do. I took it out and gave it to him. "Yeah, here it is."

"So it is him." He moved closer so I could see. He pointed at the one named Zach. "That's Zach Salvatore. He used to live here, but he went out of town for some reason."

I suddenly remembered Damon and Stefan. "Wait, you said Salvatore? As in Damon and Stefan Salvatore?"

"Yeah. The town saw them as his nephews, but it was really the other way around. Well, except they have generations between them."

I pursed my lips. "That's so weird. Well, since they were related, and they're obviously super old, would they know who Ethan is?"

He thought for a moment. "Actually, they might be your best shot. You may not be on best terms with them, but it's worth a try."

"I guess you're right." I then started to put everything away. "I'm gonna go right now."

Matt started to help. "I'll go with you. For support, and also just incase they try something."

I smiled and got closer to him. I said, "Thanks," before leaning in and kissing him softly. When I went to move away, he pulled me to him for a few more seconds before letting go.

We picked up our things and left the library, but not before seeing the dirty look given to us by the librarian. Once we were outside we started laughing. The laughter didn't die down until we reached his car, which wasn't too far away.

"What are you going to do once you find out who's your family." Matt asked as we got into the car.

"Honestly, I haven't even thought that far ahead." I thought about it. "I guess I would want to get to know them. I want to actually feel like I actually have a family. Don't get me wrong, I do love my mom, but it's different. She's not exactly around all of the time, and she was never really around, especially after my dad died."

He glanced at me. "How did he die?"

I started to bite my lip. "He was a marine. He got called into action, and he eventually died. He jumped over a grenade that was thrown towards some friends of his."

"Oh, wow, I'm sorry." He looked guilty for bringing it up.

I shook my head lightly. "You don't have to be. Honestly, as harsh as it sounds, I wasn't really affected much. He left pretty early in my life, so I don't remember much of him."

"Nah, it's fine. I understand what you mean."

I was about to reply when I noticed we had arrived at the boarding house already. I got out of the car and took a deep breath. For the first time, I knocked on the door. Usually I came here with Rebekah, so I never had the need to.

Damon opened the door. "What the hell do you want?"

I gave a glare. "Well, hello to you too." I felt Matt's hand on my back for support. I pursed my lips. "I wanted to know if I could ask either you or Stefan, maybe even both, a few questions.

He only stared at me for a few moments. Becoming restless, I clasped my hands behind my back and started rocking back and forth. He surprised me by moving inside to let us in. "Alright."

We walked inside and he led us to the foyer. As soon as he did, though, he left us there. I felt Matt pull me so I could sit down next to him. Sitting back, I noticed that my legs didn't reach the ground, so I started to swing them out of habit. Finally, Damon came back with a drink.

"So," Damon began. "What do you want to know. Also, Stefan happened to skip town after he betrayed the whole 'kill Klaus plan', so he isn't here at the moment."

I pursed my lips again. "Well, I came into Mystic Falls in order to find my family. All I had was a picture and the name of the two guys in it. Matt told me that one of them is Zach Salvatore, who he also said happens to be related to you , so I wanted to know if you knew who the other man is?" I took out the picture and gave it to him.

"Yup, that's Zach alright. Don't know the other guy though." Damon shrugged his shoulders. "Does he have a name? I might know that, or even a better idea: we could look through Stefan's little diaries."

I leaned forward with my elbows on my legs and my hands cupped over my cheeks. "His name is Ethan. It's on the back."

He squinted his eyes at the ceiling as he thought for a moment. "Yeah, I think Zach might have mentioned him once or twice when I heard him talking to dear old Stefan." He made a face then went upstairs to get Stefan's journals, or diaries as he calls them.

"Are you nervous?" Matt hasn't spoken this whole time, so don't judge when I tell you I jumped.

"I feel more… excited actually." I bite my lip.

We heard footsteps, then Damon was back. He dropped a few journals down. "These are the ones he wrote whenever he was here with Zach."

As I picked one up, I had a thought. "What happened to Zach anyway?"

He winced a bit. "I had my emotions off, and I ended up killing him."

"Oh." I didn't know what else to say, so I began to skim the journals.

* * *

I don't know how long we were looking for, but some time later, I was growing bored and disappointed. I felt like I was never going to find out the truth. Matt was leaning diagonally against the armrest, and I was laying across the couch with my head on his chest. Damon was on the floor taking a liquor break.

"Oh!" All of a sudden, Matt yells out and sits up quickly. His sudden movement caused me to fall on the floor. He looked at me apologetically. "Sorry, but I found it."

I got up quickly and sat back down. "Well?" Even Damon looked a bit curious.

"Ethan is your father. Zach was the one who convinced him to give you up after you were born. He thought you would have a safer and better life away from the supernatural. Your mom actually died during the childbirth, so she didn't really have a say. There's a bit of a twist though." He paused as looked at me.

"Are you gonna say what it is, or what?" Damon was getting impatient.

"His full name was Ethan Salvatore." My jaw practically dropped to the floor. "He was Zach's younger brother. Apparently, he died in a plane crash a few years ago. From what I read, Stefan has been watching over you your whole life. He wanted to make sure you were safe."

I turned to look at Damon. An awkward silence that permeated the air. Abruptly, he came over to me and made me stand up. Of course with height, I only reached his chest, so I had to crane my neck. He looked as though he was thinking. He placed his hands on my shoulders and moved me around a bit as if to check for something.

I grew annoyed of it pretty fast. "You know, I'm not a puppet on a string."

He gave me a look. "I was looking at the resemblance. I missed it before, but it's definitely there." He walked back to where he was before. "So, you're a Salvatore. Congradulations. Are you going to change your name now, or what? What do you even expect to happen?"

I looked down, not knowing what to say. Instead Matt spoke up for me. "Is that all you're going to say? You just found out you have a relative. You know, family."

"This isn't some cheesy movie to where there's a large reunion with tears and hugs. We just so happen to share a bloodline. A distant bloodline." He rolled his eyes and continued on drinking.

I became angry. "I came to this town to find my family. Now, I find out that all I have left is you and Stefan. I wanted to find a family, not two assholes that act like they care for nothing and no one." I let out a noise of frustration and started stomping away.

As I got to the doorway, I saw Rebekah's brother, Klaus, there. He smirked at me then looked towards Damon.

"I think it's about time we had a drink, don't you?" He spoke arrogantly. I stood still, frozen. I was unsure of whether I should leave or stay.

Damon spoke."I'd say we're overdue."

"Well, you've been so busy with all your plotting and scheming." As Klaus said this, I bit my lip and tensed.

"You know me. Never miss a chance to plan an epic failure." Damon rolled his eyes.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. Who could have guessed your own brother would betray you?" Matt moved up until he was behind me.

"Well, I did have a front row seat when your sister lied to you." Damon became smug.

"Yeah, well she's fickle that one. And you say you have no idea of her whereabouts?" Klaus looked at me when he said this. Although, he was still asking Damon.

"That's the thing with younger siblings. You just never know what they're gonna do." Damon walked over to his drinks and prepared another glass. "Drink?"

Klaus walked up to him and grabbed it. "Cheers mate!"

"Down the hatch." Damon muttered.

Matt began to push me gently towards the door so we could leave. With a look towards the two men, I turned and started to walk until Klaus spoke up.

"Ah, ah, ah. You're staying, sweetheart." He was staring at me. Then he pointed at Matt. "You can leave."

"I'm not leaving her here with you." Matt began to argue.

I watched Klaus and saw that he was becoming annoyed. From what Rebekah told me, it's best that I be cautious. I looked at Matt. "Matt, it's fine. Just meet me later, okay?"

"You can't be serious? He's dangerous. And Damon has just admitted he could care less about you." I glanced at the other two before looking back at Matt.

"I'll be fine." I stared at him. "Trust me." He only shook his head before leaving a bit annoyed.

I turned back around and Klaus grinned while motioning me to sit. He turned back to Damon when I did. "You know, we've actually got a lot in common you and I."

Damon was a bit confused about what happened, but still spoke. "Really? Well, yeah. Maybe we can bond over our mutual loathing of my brother. Why are you so mad at him? He stole something?"

"My family, the Originals. I had them daggered, boxed-up awaiting the day when I saw fit to wake them. And he went in and pinched the bloody lot." My eyes widened. I was shocked at how Stefan did that despite the danger.

Damon sighed. "Of course he did. Such a buzz kill, my baby bro. Well, I'd love to find him. Just the trouble is, I sure as hell don't work for you."

"You know, your drink stinks of vervain, so I can't compel you. There be no point in killing you because you're actually the one with the most help of getting me what I need. And yet, it would seem a demonstration is in order. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough when I told you to find Stefan. Well, it seems you people respond best to displays of violence. Why don't you take this as an example of my reach." He then took out his phone and called someone. When they answered, he smirked. "There he is! So, that thing I told you to do, why don't you go ahead and get on with it?"

I began to feel dread as he hung up. He turned to me. "Tell me of your relationship with Rebekah."

I was surprised, and I sure it showed. "We're friends."

"Then, did she tell you where she went?"

I frowned. "No. She didn't go to the dance, but she promised she would. I haven't heard from her since I had split from her that day."

"I see." He looked annoyed. He walked up to me and roughly squeezed my chin. "Should you find out, you will tell me. If you don't, I'll kill you. Or maybe, I'll even pay the young gentleman who was just here a friendly visit." He shoved me backward and walked away. I would have fell over had it not been for Damon grabbing me and holding me upright.

I rubbed me jaw. I was terrified. I would be a fool not to be. But at the same time, I was angry for his threat. Glaring at where just was, I puffed out a breath and straightened myself. With one last look at Damon, I left.

* * *

When I finally got home, I noted Matt waiting outside of me door. Feeling emotional after what just happened, I sped over to him and squeezed him tight. "I'm sorry" I spoke quietly, but I could tell he heard me.

He chuckled a bit. "It's alright."

When I finally pulled away, I was a little embarrassed with how I reacted. Instead of dwelling on it, I opened my door and turned to Matt. "Stay?" Instead of answering, he followed me inside.


	6. Chapter 06

I officially do not like Klaus. At all. I mean sure he threatened Matt and myself, but even then it was only some annoyance and anger. See, I was walking to the Mystic Grill when these two guys just randomly came and knocked me unconscious. Imagine my surprise, and annoyance, when I wake up on a covered floor and see Klaus staring at me.

I groaned. "Why the hell am I here?"

"I have a request to make." He smirked when I scoffed and rolled my eyes. Instead of replying, I got up and started to walk away, but then I heard a whoosh and he was standing in front of me. I jumped and back away until he grabbed me and started into my eyes. "I took the liberty of taking off your vervain bracelet. So, now, you will spy on dear Elena and her Salvatore saviors. Whenever you are able to, you will come back and report to me. You are to tell no one of our little meeting. This is between us two only. Now hurry off."

He let me go and backed up. My body began to walk away and leave on its own. When I was outside, I blinked as though awakening from a trance. I thought back to my conversations with Rebekah and realized that I was just compelled. With a deep frown, I walked aimlessly.

* * *

I was walking for what felt like hours until I began to hear voices. With a bite of my lip, I hid behind a tree and quietly looked to see who it was. It was Damon and Stefan. They were walking up to some house. My eyes widened and I began to listen in on what they were saying without meaning to.

"You didn't say anything to Elena about the coffins, right?" Stefan asked Damon.

He only rolled his eyes. "No, I said I wouldn't."

"I know what you said." Stefan stared at him.

Damon looked annoyed. "Why are you asking?"

"Because protecting the location of Klaus's family is my number one priority right now. And the fewer people who know, the better." Damon stops walking. Stefan stops too. "What?"

I then saw the dark skinned girl from the first day of school walk slowly towards the staircase. When she turns to walk up the stairs, she looked surprised to see Damon there. He put his finger to his lips to quiet her and and seemed to be listening for something. Suddenly, a hybrid walked out of the house and ran into Stefan. The hybrid goes to bite him, but before he can, Damon ripped his heart out from behind him.

"These hybrids, really bringing the neighborhood down." Damon threw the heart on the ground. "Now, to fix another little problem."

I was confused with what he meant, but I soon found out when he disappeared and ended up in front of me. I squeaked in surprise and backed away from him. He seemed annoyed and confused, but that changed when he smirked as he saw my naked wrist. Widening my eyes, I turned and began to run away. Again he ended up in front of me quickly. With one hand grabbing my throat and the other shoving me against a tree, his eye veins popped out along with his teeth.

I whimpered as I felt my head hit the tree hard and tears formed in my eyes. I then felt my jaw grabbed roughly, but I squeezed my eyes shut. I already figured he was probably going to compel me.

He leaned closer. "Open your eyes or I will kill you. And if that doesn't persuade you, then I could just ask Stefan here to pay a visit to mommy. See, Stefan doesn't really care about things anymore, so don't think he won't do it."

I completely stiffened when I heard his threat. Not wanting to push my luck, I reluctantly opened my eyes and glared at him. "If you do anything to my mother, I will kill you. I don't care if we're related." He only smirked and looked into my eyes.

* * *

For some reason, I was walking into Klaus' home. Some part of me, although I don't know why, felt like I should. I knew I was compelled, but I haven't even seen Elena, Damon, or Stefan. Thinking about that made my head hurt though, so I just shook my head. Though, as I finally got to where Klaus was my mouth dropped open. He was standing over Rebekah! More specifically her daggered body in a coffin.

"You daggered her?!" I practically yelled.

Klaus answered without missing a beat. "Actually, it was sweet little Elena who daggered my poor sister. I only plan to keep her daggered until I have the rest of my family back."

I was shocked. Now it made sense that I didn't see her at the dance. As I looked at her, I saw that she was dressed and ready. She was beautiful despite the greying skin and emphasized veins.I frowned. "They knew how much going to this dance meant to her."

Klaus didn't answer or acknowledge what I said. Instead, he closed back up her coffin. "Sweet dreams Rebekah." He then turned to a random hybrid. "Show her to her room, would you, love?"

"Sure." She took her.

After she left, Klaus spoke again, but not to me. "I'm surprised you're still in town. I gave you your freedom, you could have gone anywhere."

Suddenly I heard Stefan. "I live here, Klaus."

Well, if we're playing this game, then... I was here first." Klaus walked towards him.

"You know, I don't like your hybrid friends. They're everywhere, kind of like flies. I want them gone." He stood up straight and stared at Klaus.

"Yeah, well I kind of like having them around." He paused for a short moment. "You know, I'm hurt. I hoped that when I freed you, we'd pick up where we left off. But here you are, guzzling vervain like the rest of them, I'm sure. So much for friendship."

"Friends don't strip friends of their free will." Stefan was almost emotionless when he said this.

Klaus looked down for a split second as though in regret. "Okay, granted, that was a little extreme, but I get a little moody. Just ask my siblings. Speaking of whom, isn't it time you handed them over?"

What Stefan said next made my eyes widen in surprise. "Klaus," He walked up to him, "get your hybrids out of Mystic Falls, or I will remove them myself."

"You see, if you continue to threaten me, I'm gonna be forced to retaliate. Kill people. And it will get messy again." He said this with no care.

"Do whatever you want, I don't really care. Or you know what? Maybe I do. Maybe I care so much, that I'll drop Elijah in the Arctic." Stefan began to smile.

"Well, maybe I'll be willing to lose one brother if it meant killing yours." Klaus surprised me when he said this. I had thought he would have done anything for his family back, yet it seemed as though he didn't care.

"Try me, let's find out." They both just stared at each other.

Just then, the hybrid from before walked in. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine, Mindy. Stefan was just leaving after failing to make his point." Stefan's smile seemed to tense slightly.

Stefan waited a beat as though contemplating something, then rushed over to Mindy and cut her head clean off with his hands. I quickly covered my mouth with both of her hands and moved closer to Klaus until I was practically hiding behind him. I couldn't stop staring at her body in shock of what just happened.

"Well, one down. You may want to send the rest of them away before it gets messy, again." He turned to leave, but then he paused and turned his head. "Also, next time we Eva mysteriously shows up with her nose it places it shouldn't be, she'll be next, and you'll have no one to be your little spy. She was lucky that we only decided to compel her this time" With that he left.

After a few moments of angry silence, Klaus moved in front of me so he could face me. The movement caused my to snap out of my trance.

"Was that your first time seeing a dead body?" He asked me.

I bit my lip and answered him. "Yeah."

He stared. "You're going to have to get used to it love. You're in the middle of a war brewing." Thinking on this, I barely noticed him taking out his phone and calling someone over. He then yelled out for someone to clean up Mindy's body.

Another hybrid walked in. "What do you want me to do with her head?"

"Just get rid of it. Burn it. I honestly don't care, Daniel." Klaus seemed to be waiting for someone.

Then, Tyler walked in. "You called? I'm here. What happened?"

Klaus glared at nothing in particular. "What happened is Stefan had two paths in front of him and he chose the one that made me angry. I need you to help me do something about that."

Tyler seemed exasperated. "Can't you just leave me out of it?"

"What would be the point of that?"

"Seriously man, can't you just ask another hybrid to do your bidding? I lost my friends, my girlfriend." He was getting frustrated.

"Right, your girlfriend, about her... I need you to bite her."

"What?" My eyes widened as I remembered the pretty blonde from the party. Why does he want to hurt her?

"Don't make me repeat myself." Klaus rolled him eyes.

Tyler looked shocked. "A hybrid bite will kill a vampire."

"Yeah, I know exactly what it will do. Stefan pushed me too far, so I'm pushing back."

"I'm not biting Caroline."

"Tyler, I've been supernaturally blessed with the good fortune of a sire-bond to you. So, one could consider this me putting your undying loyalty to the test."

"What the hell is wrong with you? I'm not hurting Caroline." He was angry now. I was a bit as well. He was going to hurt someone that has nothing to do with Stefan!

"Alright. Alright. I'm disappointed, but you know, it's your choice... free will and all that. I'll find another way to strike at Stefan. You can go now." I was suspicious as to why he would give in so easily, but I didn't get to question in because Tyler had left and Klaus was in front of me, looking into my eyes. His pupils dilated. "You are to disregard any compulsion I put you on before. Now, you will do as I say always and help me get my family back."

* * *

I was in my room and on my bed, staring at the ceiling while in the dark. I felt trapped, not being able to fight against the compulsion. Yet, at the same time, I wanted to help Klaus get him family back. One, it's his family, and two, Rebekah will be back. So, I decided, compulsion or not, I will help Klaus for Rebekah. Finalizing and controlling my racing thoughts, I fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 07

I was currently at the Mystic Grill drinking the most amazing milkshake ever. I was alone, and it was so nice finally having some time to myself. With everything that has been happening, I felt like I haven't been alone for more than five minutes. It's exhausting. Suddenly, that haze filled with peace was gone when I saw Damon Salvatore walk in. I blew a raspberry in annoyance, but decided to turn my head away. I went to drink more of my milkshake, but to my sadness and disappointment I had finished it without realizing, so I began to pout.

"Do you want a refill?" I jumped when I heard Matt's voice on my right. When I turned and looked at him, I saw that he was staring at me with amusement and a raised eyebrow.

"Thanks, but I just ate, and I don't want to make myself stuffed by drinking more." I shook my head but smiled at him. Instead of leaving and continuing to work, he sat down across from me.

"Well, I'm on break at the moment, so I might as well stay here." At first he smiled, but then he looked a bit confused as though he remembered something. "Actually, I've been meaning to talk to you."

I blinked in surprise at his tone of confusion. "What about?"

"Well, I heard that you've been hanging around Klaus now? You know, you shouldn't help him. He's kills people, and he's evil, Eva." He looked worried while staring at me.

My eyes softened, touched by his care, and I bit my lip. "I know, Matt. But I can't just not help him."

He interrupted me. "Is he threatening you? Did he compel you?"

Remembering that Klaus undid the original compulsion that restricted me from telling anyone about the compulsion, I answered truthfully. "Well, he did compel me to do whatever he tells me help him get his family back. Though, even if I wasn't under his compulsion, I would still help him. It's his family Matt, and family is important." I paused. "Plus, I'm doing this for Rebekah too."

Matt got confused and a bit angry. "How could you help him with everything he has done? He doesn't deserve his family. Eva, he killed Elena's aunt, tried to kill Elena, and turned Tyler into a hybrid who can't go against him!"

I rolled my eyes, annoyed at the mention of Elena. "From what I know, if Elena had cooperated and helped him from the beginning, her aunt's death could have been avoided. Also, Elena is alive, so while he tried to kill her, he obviously didn't succeed. Not to mention, Tyler is better off as a hybrid; he doesn't have to go through the transformation anymore. The not going against him part just happens to be one downside compared to many benefits. Now, I'm not exactly trying to defend him, but I can understand him Matt. Even if you don't believe Klaus doesn't deserve his family, then what about the said mentioned family, huh? What about them?"

I sat glaring at Matt after I said all of that. He only stared at me with shock and disbelief written all over his face. "You're making a mistake Eva. Look, you're only going to get hurt."

"I happen to be taking the side of the most powerful immortal at the moment." I raised my eyebrow. "While I am aware at the dangers because of that, I'm pretty sure that also keeps me pretty damn safe."

I gathered my things and got up to leave, but Matt got up and stood in my way. "I can't let you make this mistake; I won't let you."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I finally show interest in a guy, and this happens. I shoved my finger into his chest. "You do not, nor will you ever, get to make that decision Matt." I pushed past him and stomped away, but stopped right before I went to far to turn and say one last thing. "Also, don't bother with me anymore; I want nothing to do with you from now on."

My whole being was filled to the brim with anger. I needed something to do; I needed to distract myself. With that need, and without realizing it, I started to head towards the house where Klaus is at. As I walked, my anger grew. I was so angry; I barely even realized I was already there.

As soon I marched up to the door, Klaus had come out. He grinned when he saw me. "Interesting timing, come with me."

I frowned in confusion. "Where are we going? What's happening?" My anger dissipated somewhat with the distraction.

He opened up the door for the passenger seat of a car I was too angry to notice before, and motioned me to get in. "We're going to pay a quick visit to Stefan to discuss my family."

Klaus was sitting on a chair while I was leaning against it. After a few boring moments of waiting, Stefan finally came in. He seemed annoyed, but I couldn't exactly tell.

"What are you doing here, Klaus?" He went straight to the point. I glared at him for ignoring me.

My mind then started running away from the conversation as they started to speak, so I looked down at my fingernails and began to pick at them. I vaguely listened, but didn't pay attention to what was going on.

"The question is what you want? My hybrids left town as you demanded, so please tell me what I need to do to get my family back." When Klaus finished that sentence, I quickly stopped what I was doing and began to listen closely.

"Well, see... Klaus... I'm not negotiating." My eyes widened as he said this, and my head quickly snapped up to stare at him.

"And you understand, that holding them indefinitely is the same thing as dropping them in the ocean?" Klaus was holding back anger.

"No, No. You leave Mystic Falls and then give me call in a few years and we'll talk." Stefan became nonchalant about the topic.

What he said angered me, so I spoke up. "A deal is a deal, Stefan. You can't just change things everytime he does as you say." I glared at him.

Both Stefan and Klaus seemed a bit confused. Stefan responded to me with a question. "And why do you care?"

"Well, for one, you're holding Rebekah hostage, who happens to be the only friend I have in this psychotic town at the moment. Second, your grudge is with Klaus and not his family. They have done nothing to you, yet you keep them prisoner. You're a complete hypocrite!" I let off my earlier anger from before as I said this.

Both men didn't speak for a few more moments until the choice of action appeared to be to just ignore me and what I said.

Klaus spoke up. "I can give you another chance. Just one more. Let's make a reasonable deal."

"Or what? You make one move and I will drop…" Stefan went back to being a complete douche, and I went back to glaring at him.

Klaus laughed, which I strangely found cute and adorable. "Yes, right. Crazy Stefan. How is that working out for you? Any friends left?"

After this, I began to daze out once more. It seemed clear to me that Stefan would never disclose the location of the coffins. I bit my lip and hoped that Klaus at least had a few back up plans to handle his stubborness. After what felt like an hour, Stefan and Klaus had finally stopped talking. The next thing I know it that Klaus is not directly in front of Stefan, and they're glaring at each other. It was tense, and I expected a fight to break out, but Klaus only made his face change as all other vampires do, except his eyes were gold, and backed away.

"Come, Eva." Was all he said as he left.

Klaus and I were currently walking to some cottage in the woods. It was quite some time after his talk with Stefan, and Klaus was somehow able to find out the location of the cottage from a witch whose name I couldn't remember. When I asked how she knew, he just ignored me.

After a short time, Klaus became irritated at the pace we were going, lifted me over his shoulder, and ran at a supernatural pace. I had to close my eyes and try not to vomit at the sensation. When he finally stopped and put me down, I threw my body to the ground and willed my churning stomach to quell. Klaus only rolled his eyes at my actions and began to enter the cottage. Not wanting to be alone, I followed him.

When we got inside of the cottage, we found it empty of the coffins. Though we did find Damon.

Klaus of course began the insults. "What took you so long? Hiding behind your witchy friends. And in squalor no less." After he said this, he began to break down in pain. Of course when I realized it was magic, I began to snigger.

"Insulting a bunch of dead witches... not smart. I made the exact same mistake first time I came in here." Damon seemed to find it amusing as well.

"Well, you know, the funny thing about witches is, that living or death, they care about their own. A hundred dead witches have a thousand living descendants... And I have no problem, killing every last one of them, if I don't get my coffins back. As we speak, my hybrid friend is prepared to end the Bennett line." The candles that I not just noticed were dying down, and Klaus was suddenly not in pain anymore. He chose then to glare at me.

I stuck my tongue out in response to him glaring at me after a few short seconds, but he ignored me and began to speak to the air. _"_ Now... please... show me the coffins." The coffins became visible. _"_ Here we are. Where's the fourth? Show me!"

"Well, here's the thing. They can't. It's not here." Klaus quickly snapped his head towards Damon when he said this.

If looks could kill, I wondered what would happen to Damon at that moment. "What did you do?"

"Well, Bonnie gave me the heads-up. I didn't have enough time, to get all four, but I did have time to get one." Frowning, I realized that all of the coffins present had all of his siblings, so who was in the last coffin?

Klaus became livid, and I backed away from him slightly out of fear. "I will tear you, limb from limb. And only then, when you're a riving mass of blood and flesh, will I rip your heart from your chest."

"Sorry. The same rules apply. You know, leverage and all. I know you want your family back. But something tells me, you want what's in that coffin a lot more." Damon didn't even seem to flinch at the threat!

There was another glaring contest again, though this time to was completely one-sided. Damon was just looking like a smug bastard. I rolled my eyes at their behavior and began to walk outside.

I stopped and turned slightly to look at Klaus. "Since we seem to be done here, I'll just be outside. The testosterone levels in here are too obnoxious. I'm assuming a hybrid dude will be coming to act as a delivery truck soon?"

He rolled his eyes at me, ignoring me. He only began walking out as well while whipping out his phone to do just as I expected.

* * *

Finally, we were back at Klaus's house. I was sitting on the floor watching the hybrid and Klaus interact while the coffins are being shoved into the room by said hybrid.

"You've got your family back. Finally. You gonna open them?" I listened to this since I wondered as well. He didn't un-dagger them before, so would he now?

"Not quite yet. I still have some unfinished business to take care of." I rolled my eyes as he said what I assumed he would. My legs began to become numb, so I walked over to the coffins to look at their symbols.

"What business?" I snorted when he asked this. It wasn't as though Klaus would actually answer.

Suddenly, the hybrid squirms and falls to the floor, dead. Some guy in a fancy suit is standing behind him with his heart in his hand. As I saw this, I squeaked in surprise and fear and moved closer to Klaus until I was practically behins him.

The guy looked at me curiously and raised an eyebrow, but soon turned his attention to my current shield. "So, Niklaus…"

"Elijah?" I then realized that this was her other brother; he was the 'noble Elijah' that Rebekah had talked about.

He glanced at me again "What did I miss?" From what I had seen I wasn't too sure on whether or not she had told the truth about him yet.

Fatigue and shock then began to creep into me from everything that has happened to far, that my vision began to blur with dancing black dots. I backed away from Klaus slightly to clear my head, but the next thing I know, my vision becomes completely black. The last thing I remember before becoming unconscious is the sensation of falling, but then being caught by someone.


	8. Chapter 08

I wake up with a jolt to the sound of crashing. I quickly look to see that I was still with Klaus and Elijah, and it was Klaus going through a window that woke me up. It seems that I was placed on a couch after I passed out, and I noticed a black suit jacket laid on top of me. I was completely ignored by the two siblings, however.

Klaus easily gets up and steps back inside. "Easy. I just finished renovating. You know you have every right to be mad at me. But I kept my word, I reunited you with our family."

Elijah makes a move to attack him again, but Klaus takes a dagger out of one of his other siblings and threatens Elijah with it. Looking at Elijah, it was then that my mind finally realized that the jacket laid over me was his. Maybe Rebekah was right about his being noble and gentlemanly, then.

Klaus suddenly pulled a dagger out of another brother and pointed it at Elijah. "Don't make me do this to you again Elijah!"

"Come on. Use it. I dare you. You'll have Kol to deal with." He pointed at the body, and I would have taken the chance to look at it, but I was too distracted with the fear of the turn of events.

I bit my lip and looked at Elijah, then spoke up before everything got too out of hand. "Mikael is dead."

Both brothers turned sharply towards me. Klaus glared a bit, but Elijah spoke before he could do anything. "What did you say?"

"I killed him. With his own weapon. He's gone Elijah. Forever." Klaus answered him before I could. I was kind of glad. The attention of them both had me nervous due to the moods they were in.

Either way, Elijah still seemed angry. "Why do our family remain in these coffins? Finn for over 900 years, Kol for over a century." My eyes widened when I heard how long Klaus has kept his family locked up. I felt bad for them.

"Because of Stefan Salvatore. He holds the one thing keeping me from freeing them. There are things that you do not know about our past, Elijah. Our mother's death. Things I never wanted you to know but I'm ready to tell you now. I only ask that you remember the oath of loyalty you once swore to me." Something isn't right. I bit my lip again, only to accidentally cause it to bleed.

I saw Elijah spare a quick glance at me from the corner of my eye as I concentrated on licking the blood up. "What are you doing?" I glanced up when he asked this, but noticed he was talking to Klaus who was putting the dagger back into his brother.

"Always and forever. I need you to stand by my side. Be my brother. Help me destroy Stefan, and I promise you our family will be whole again." He closed the lid of the coffin, and I looked at Elijah.

I squeezed the jacket that was in my hands, which caused me to remember that it was there. I move to get up, but hesitate when I see Klaus start to walk towards me. I grew tense the closer he got. When he was finally in front of me, he roughly grabbed my chin which caused me to flinch.

"Klaus." I heard Elijah say. It faintly seemed like a warning, but I wasn't too sure.

"You are free." With those simple three words, I felt as though a weight had been taken off of me. My eyes widened as I realized he lifted the compulsion. He spoke again before I could process anything else. "You are no longer obliged to help my family or myself."

I bit my lip before slightly pursing my lips. "Well, tough luck for you. Compulsion or not, I'm sticking around whether you like it or not."

Klaus chuckled a bit at that, and even Elijah seemed somewhat amused. Klaus speaks up after a few seconds. "Then you're going to have to get yourself changed, love."

I was surprised at his words, which showed as my eyes slightly widened. "Changed into what, exactly?"

"I'm sure my brother can find something for you to wear Miss...?" Elijah walked up to me, which made me remember the jacket again.

I stood up and gave the jacket back to him. "Thank you. I'm Eva."

"Elijah." He gave a small smile. "Is your name short for anything, perhaps?"

"Evangeline," was all I had said.

* * *

I was currently standing next to Klaus at his house in a mid-thigh black dress that hugged my body. I was slightly embarrassed since the dress showed off my curves and had a wide oval shaped opening in the front from my neck to below my breasts, so there was quite a bit showing. Not to mention, the back was uncovered until a few inches above the waist. See, the reason I was wearing this is because Klaus figured it would be easier for me to wear one of Rebekah's dresses, and this happened to be the only one he deemed fit.

After moments of fidgeting, Elijah opened the door to let in Stefan and Damon who were standing outside. "Niklaus, our guests have arrived."

Klaus, being the cheeky bastard he is, stood where he stood next to me and smiled at them. Of course I choose then to notice he had the cutest dimples ever. "Damon. Stefan. Elijah tells me, you seek an audience. Very bold. Let's discuss the terms of our agreement like civilized men, shall we?"

Elijah addressed the brothers. "It's better to indulge him."

Stefan apparently had woken up on the wrong side of the bed. "I didn't come here to eat, Klaus. Fact, I didn't want to come here at all. But I was told I had to cause you would hear us out."

"Someone's cranky." I said this in a sing-song voice while walking around Klaus to sit at the table. I only received a glare; oh, to be ignore.

Klaus simply chuckled slightly and began to sit as well. "Well, we can sit and eat, or I can reach down your throats and pull out your insides. The choice is yours."

Luckily, they sat at the table, and began eating and drinking without too much of a fuss. Of course, except Stefan who was only sitting.

A random woman begins pouring the wine at this moment. Damon thanked her when she poured his. A hid a smile at his uncharacteristic kindness. I guess he can be decent when Elena isn't being threatened and such.

Klaus then decided to speak to Stefan. "You lost your appetite."

Tensely, Damon reprimanded him. "Eat. I thought we agreed that we would leave the grumpy Stefan at home."

"That's the spirit. Isn't it nice? Four of us dining together? Such a treat. Is this what you had in mind when you pulled the dagger from my brother?" Klaus was speaking as though we were having a simple conversation.

Damon was just as nonchalant it seems. "Well, I know how he felt about you, so I figured the more, the merrier."

Klaus merely shrugged off what he said. "Well, Elijah and I have had our share of quarrels over the century. But we always make it through."

"Kind of like you and Rebekah, right? Where is she, by the way? Last I checked she was still daggered because you were afraid to face her." I rolled my eyes at this. Stefan seemed determined to get under Klaus' skin.

Klau only ignored this, however. "If you're referring to the fact that Rebekah knows I killed our mother, I've already come clean to Elijah."

"Hey, Stef, remember when you killed dad? Might want to dial down the judgment until dessert." My eyes when I heard Damon say this. I stared at Stefan with confusion. He's judging, yet he did the same thing?

Stefan ignored my staring. "We're here to make a deal, Damon. Doesn't mean we need to kiss his ass for seven courses."

"I'm just saying we have a long evening ahead of us. Pace yourself."

Elijah chose now to speak up. "Stefan. Where is the lovely Elena tonight?"

"I don't know. Ask Damon." Stefan became bitter.

Klaus laughs begins to laugh uncontrollably, and I let out a snort when trying to hold in my laughter as well. Slowing down his laughter, Klaus answers for Stefan. "I'm sorry, you've missed so much. Uh, trouble in paradise."

Stefan only looked bothered and annoyed. "One more word about Elena and this dinner's over." For someone who claims to not care, he seems to be bothered with Elena's new choices regarding his brother.

Klaus, of course, only continues to laugh silently. I had to take a sip of my drink to stop myself.

Damon looked a bit uncomfortable to me, then he spoke. "You know what, probably best just to keep Elena in the do not discuss pile."

Klaus finally stopped laughing. "You're probably right."

"Yeah." I started to feel a bit of an awkward vibe now.

It seems that Klaus wasn't exactly done, however. "It's just the allure of the Petrova doppelgänger, still so strong. What do you say, brother? Should we tell them about Tatia?" This caught my interest, as Rebekah didn't tell me much about her.

Elijah seemed uncomfortable, which only furthered my curiosity. "Now why should we discuss matters long since resolved?"

"Well, given their shared affection for both Elena and Katerina, I think our guests might be curious to learn about the originator of the Petrova line." I was getting impatient of the suspense that Klaus was building. I bit my bottom lip to stop myself from saying anything.

"Well, we're not going anywhere Elijah. Please, do tell." After he said this, Damon took a sip of wine. It made me look down at my simple champaign and pout; I was curious how the wine tasted.

Elijah reluctantly started to tell the story. "When our family first settled here, there was a girl named Tatia, she was an exquisite beauty. Every boy of age desired to be her suitor, even though she'd had a child by another man. And none loved her more than Niklaus."

Klaus interrupted him. "I'd say there was one who loved her at least as much."

Stefan spoke right after. "Wait a minute, so you both loved the same girl?"

Elijah seemed uncomfortably awkward. "Our mother was a very powerful witch. She sought to end our feud over Tatia, and so she took her. Klaus and I would later learn that it was Tatia's blood that we consumed in the wine on the night where our mother performed the spell which turned us into vampires. Tatia wouldn't make a decision between the two of us, so for a time Niklaus and I... grew estranged. Harsh words were traded, we even came to blows, didn't we, brother?"

"But in the end we realized the sacred bond of family." That had to be the cheesiest and corniest thing I have ever heard someone say outside of a movie. I had to cover up my laugh with a cough.

Elijah looked at me amused. "Family above all." He and Klaus both raised their glasses.

Clinking the glasses together, Klaus said, "Family above all."

From the corner of my eye, I see Damon look down at his phone and become impatient. I tilted my head and narrowed my eyes in confusion.

I didn't dwell on it for too long, however, because Elijah chose then to speak. "So, why don't we move this evening along and discuss the terms of this proposal?"

Damon decided to answer. "That's very simple. Klaus gets his coffin back, in exchange, he and the Original extended family leave Mystic Falls forever. Me, Stefan, and Elena live happily ever after. No grudges."

Elijah then began to address Klaus. "The deal sounds fair, brother."

"I don't think you understand, Elena's doppelgänger blood insures that I will always have more hybrids to fight those that oppose me. I will never leave her behind." His reply caused my face to change into a frown.

Klaus then got up and started to pace. "Let's say I do leave her here, under your protection, what then? How long before one of you turns her into a vampire? Or worse, how long before she dies caught between your feuding? You see, each one of you truly believes that you're the one that can protect her, and that is simply a delusion. Gentlemen, the worst thing for Elena Gilbert is... the two of you." I was surprised that he had thought this far. Though, at the same time, it seems to be borderline paranoid.

All of a sudden, Damon got up."I'm gonna get some air."

Surprisingly, Elijah went after him. "Let me deal with this."

Now, I was left with Klaus and Stefan. I felt slightly awkward seeing as Stefan made me uncomfortable, and Klaus had me under his compulsion for the past few days. Thinking about how little time has passed, I realized how quickly things have been going. It wasn't too long ago when I moved here, and already I have gotten myself involved with all kinds of crazy. Even thinking about how fast I moved with Matt had me a bit mortified; it wasn't like me at all.

Klaus then spoke up, breaking me from my thoughts. "All this talk has made me thirsty." A blonde girl then walked up and stood next to him. He roughly grabbed her. "What do you say Stefan, can I interest you in a little after dinner drink?"

I scrunched my face and looked away as Klaus bit into her neck and began drinking her continued feeding on the blonde girl until I heard her body hitting the ground. "Delicious. Aged to perfection." It seems he was almost teasing Stefan.

"Well, I guess the only reason you agreed to this evening, Klaus, is to drive a wedge between me and my brother." I was a bit surprised that Stefan completely ignored what just happened.

"Oh no, you're doing that well enough on your own. Because of Elena, you're gonna lose your brother, and you'll only have yourself to blame." I thought about what Klaus said and realized, that while he is only trying to get what he wants, his words are true.

I was thinking this when Damon and Elijah re-entered the room.

Damon went straight to business. "What do you say, Klaus? It's time for you to put something on the table. We've made our offer, now you counter."

"Okay. I offer Elena's future happiness. You see, what she needs right now is to be rid of you lot, and to fall in love with a human. Maybe that nice football player; you know the blond one?" I was slowly losing interest in the conversation, so I got up and began walking around the room aimlessly.

I was about to block out the conversation when Damon spoke again, and my curiosity got the best of me. "Matt Donovan? Really?"

"Yeah, why not? They'll marry, live a long and fruitful life, and pop out a perfect family." I tried to picture what he was saying, but I couldn't. Instead, I couldn't help but see Elena with Stefan.

Stefan spoke up just as he appeared in my mind. "And continue the Petrova bloodline. Every few hundred years, you'll have a new doppelgänger to drain and never run out of hybrids, right Klaus?"

"Consider it a small return on my investment in her well being. See after you hand me back the coffin, I'll ensure her safety for the rest of her natural life. You know it's what's best for her." Klaus then got up and walked towards Stefan. "So, what do you say Stefan, do we have a deal?"

Stefan walked over to Klaus, which made Damon question him. "What are you doing?"

Klaus then held out his hand to Stefan, and he grabbed it. "Nice try, Klaus. But no deal."

Angered, Klaus breaks Stefan's arm and kicks his leg, breaking it as well. He pushes Stefan's hand into the fireplace, and he starts to burn. Damon attempted to rush over to him, but Elijah pushed him against the wall. I only backed away slightly in fright.

Damon looked towards Elijah and said, "What are you doing?" With Elijah not saying anything, and Klaus continuing to hold Stefan in the fire as his arm is badly burnt, Damon yells for Klaus to stop.

Klaus turned towards Damon, slightly satisfied. "Now, bring me my coffin before I burn him alive."

"I'll get it." Damon actually looked scared.

Klaus, however, didn't exactly trust him. "Go with him, brother, you keep him honest. And when you return, I will make good on my promise to you, and I will hand over our family."

With a quick decision, I jog over towards Damon and Elijah. They have been acting weird, and I wanted to know why. "I'm going to go with them," I told Klaus as I left.

As we were walking, Damon spoke. "Why did you want to come with us?"

"You're both hiding something." I pursed my lips. "From what I can tell so far, you both have some separate plan to get what both of you want."

Elijah looked at me a little surprised. "You aren't to far off." Suddenly, he stopped and turned towards me. "With you no longer under my brothers compulsion, can I trust you won't say anything to him before everything starts?"

"I have no reason to go to Klaus. I'm here for Rebekah; that's all. So, yes, you can trust that I will not warn him." With that said we continued walking until we finally reached the coffins. I was surprised to see them all empty.

"I assume it was Nik who gave you that dress to wear?" I jump and turn as I hear Rebekah's voice. I saw her standing in her dress for homecoming and all made up.

"Of course. There's no way I would willingly choose this to wear." I smiled at her.

Then an unknown accented voice spoke. "Well, isn't that quite a shame."

I turned again to see a smirking man who I assumed to be Kol. He appeared to have the same clothing as the body in the coffin that Klaus had taken the dagger out earlier that day.

"Oh, don't tease her Kol." With a roll of her eyes, Rebekah left the way I came.

"You know, seeing as I was daggered for nearly a century, I am quite… hungry. You wouldn't happen to know anyone who wouldn't be missed, would you? Or maybe you can offer me a quick bite?" He came closer to me with a mischievous grin.

I didn't exactly think over my next action, but I ended up extending my wrist towards him. I guess I felt bad for him and how many years of his life he lost.

He looked slightly shocked, yet amused. "What are you doing?"

My cheeks heated up slightly. "You said you needed it, so here. It's better that you take it from someone offering than kill someone who isn't."

"Aren't you an interesting one." He grinned and grab my wrist, wordlessly accepting my offer. I flinched at the pain and bit my lip, but I mentally praised myself for not screaming.

After a few moments of silence, not counting the blood drinking, Kol finally finished. I felt a bit wobbly and weak, but it was nothing too bad.

He went to put my wrist down, but kissed where he bit it. "Kol Mikaelson. And you are?"

I smiled slightly in amusement and said, "Evangeline, but Eva for short."

As though remembering something, Kol started walking towards the room where Elijah, Damon, and I left Klaus and Stefan. Pursing my lips, I simply sped to catch up with him. As we reached the entryway, there was another brother waiting out of sight. When he saw us, he made an impatient face at Kol and a confused one at me.

When we got close enough, we heard Elijah's voice. "I've learned not to trust your vulgar promises, Klaus. We're doing this on my terms now." It seems that we caught the end of what he was saying.

Gaining a smirk, Kol entered the room with arrogance.

"Kol." Klaus' voice seemed almost scared, though I would say it was leaning more towards pleading for some odd reason.

Kol then spoke, sounding as though he rehearsed what he wanted to say. "Long time, brother."

I slowly turn the corner to see what was going on and leaned against the wall. I saw Klaus start to back away, but his other brother suddenly appears. He grabbed a dagger and stabbed Klaus through the hand. Klaus yells out, "Finn, don't!" At least I know his name now. He tries to rush away, but runs into Rebekah who he seemed shocked to see. "Rebekah?"

As she stabbed him with a dagger, Rebekah said something I couldn't hear in his ear. After that, she pushed Klaus back into Kol's arms, and he restrains him.

"You're free to go." Elijah chose then to address Damon, Stefan, and me. "This is family business."

Seeing the situation become tense and personal, I left the house with one more look towards everyone. Damon and Stefan had left a few seconds before, but it seems as though they waited for me outside. I slowed down my walking in confusion.

Damon noticed my confusion. "They're dealing with their family business, so might as well deal with ours."

* * *

Damon and Stefan were currently standing outside of my house, while I was inside leaning against a wall. I didn't exactly trust them, so I didn't bother inviting them in. Growing impatient, I spoke. "What did you want to deal with? You already clear on what you thought, so what do you want really?"

Stefan rolled his eyes, which made me glare at him. "Listen, you happen to be family, which means we might as well make sure you don't die. So here's some advice: stay away from the originals. Hell, might as well stay away from Mystic Falls while you're at it. It isn't safe here."

I scoffed in anger. "You never told me we were family, despite knowing the truth the whole time. Not to mention both of you have been asses ever since I met you both, so you have no right giving me any type of 'advice' you have."

"We're just trying to help you!" Damon yelled.

Frustrated with their inability to listen, I threw the first thing I grabbed, which happened to be a vase, at them. "I don't need, nor do I want your help. Just leave!" With that, I slammed the door shut in their faces.


	9. Chapter 09

I was laying on my living room couch watching a few movies since I couldn't sleep when I heard a knock at the door. When I opened the door, I saw Rebekah. I was surprised to see her since I assumed she would be dealing with a family reunion, but I figured that it had already finished since she was cleaned up and changed.

I step aside to let her in as I said, "Not that I'm not happy to see you or anything, but what are you doing here?"

"I have news for you, and I'm assuming you could catch me up with what has been happening while I was withering away in a box." She plopped down on my couch.

I sat down next to her. "You look exhausted." Despite her being a century old immortal, I frowned in worry.

She only waved me off, which did nothing to lessen my worry. "I have a feeling my story will be a lot shorter than yours, so I'll go first." She shifted in order to get more comfortable. "After you left, my siblings and I were informing Nik that we would be leaving him to be alone for the rest of his hopefully miserable life. Though it seems everyone's favorite brothers had another surprise." Rebekah's face softened a bit into a slight smile. "It was my mother. Alive. And while I wasn't exactly happy about her forgiving my brother, she wants us all to be a family again."

Hearing the hope in her voice had me hoping that her mother was telling the truth. I haven't met her, and I don't know how she it, but if my son had killed me out of anger a thousand years ago, I wouldn't be as forgiving. Of course there was another thought on my mind. "Does that mean you're all going to try and settle a thousand years worth of family drama?"

"Knowing my brothers, it won't be that easy." She rolled her eyes and huffed a bit. "Hopefully with our mother here they'll try harder. Now, before you start telling me all of the past events that I have missed, I need to give you this."

I was passed an envelope that had "Evangeline" written in extremely fancy cursive on it. I looked up at Rebekah a bit confused, but decided to just open it instead of asking what it was. inside was an elegant looking card inviting me to "Join the Mikaelson Family" at seven.

"What is this for?" I asked her.

"Mother wanted to throw a ball in celebration of us all coming together again. The invitations aren't supposed to be passed out until tomorrow, but I figured I would hand it to you early. Mother wanted us to pass out formal invitations to everyone." She shrugged, but seemed excited all at the same time. It was times like these that I'm able to forget how long she has been alive, and just see her as someone who has a certain kind of innocence that most don't.

I bit my lip. "I'm assuming since it's a ball I kinda have to go all out right? Do you think I'll find a dress in the stores in time?"

Rebekah looked amused. "Don't be absurd. I already have everything taken care of. All you need to do is be ready to leave your house a few hours before the ball, and I'll come and get you. It's not everyday I get another female to do these things with."

I chuckled a bit until I was cut off by me yawning. I blinked a bit in order to stay awake for a while longer. "I guess I should tell you everything now before I fall asleep." I moved in a less sleep tempting position. "On the night of homecoming, everyone went to a large party and the Lockwood house that your brother threw. They still went through with the plan to kill him, but Stefan stopped it which granted his freedom. Also, Klaus killed your father that night as well. Afterwards, Stefan stole the coffins you and your siblings were in. He wanted to drive Klaus out of town and get revenge. To help spy on them without noticing, your brother compelled me, though that didn't exactly work since I ended up being compelled to forget what I saw according to him. After that, Elijah showed up, the compulsion was taken off of me, and out all of you came."

She looked annoyed when I would mention Klaus. After a short moment, Rebekah asked, "What about you and Matt? Weren't you two close to getting together?"

I bit my lip and looked off to the side. "Well, we sort of did, but I ended things when we got into an argument that revolved around helping your brother. He didn't like that I would have helped even without being under compulsion, because you happened to be one of those coffins; I had to help." I shrugged. "It was for the best anyway, I guess."

"Thank you." I quickly looked back at her to see a genuine smile on her face. "I guess I should leave you now. You look close to passing out." Rebekah stood up from the couch and towards the door, with me following. When she was outside, she turned to me. "Don't forget about tomorrow." With that said, she left.

* * *

When morning came, I was sitting in the kitchen on the counter of the island while drinking coffee. As I sat there, I began to notice how empty and lonely everything felt. I hadn't focused on the feeling due to everything that has been happening, but since things were calmed down, it hit me fast. I frowned; I needed something to do in order to distract myself. And so, the cleaning began.

I started off with the kitchen and living room, but next thing I knew, the whole house was spotless, the food in the refrigerator was organized, my clothes were washed and organized, and every book my mom and I owned was alphabetically ordered. I always knew I had a bad habit of cleaning when I was upset, but even I was surprised at my work.

After I checked the time as saw that I had some time left to myself, I decided to soak in a nice bubble bath. It turned out to be so relaxing, that I almost jumped out of my skin in shock when my phone rang.

"Hello," I said when I answered.

"Hi honey. I just wanted to check in with you on how everything has been for you? I know I haven't been able to call since I left, but I did miss you." It was my mom.

"Oh, hey Mom. Well everything has been fine over here," complete lie, "I made some friends. I'm actually going to a ball later on that their family is throwing for the town."

"That's wonderful! I hope you have fun. Oh, and before I forget, I was wondering if you could talk to the mayor for me?" She sounded a bit nervous, but I decided not to push her for answers.

"Sure. What is it?"

"I want you to tell her that Dr. Westfield's research and experiment should be finished towards the end of the summer. Now, before you ask, I cannot tell you since it's a bit of a secret. Sorry." She didn't sound very sorry, but I figured I could interrogate her the next time we were face to face. "I have to go now. Love you. Bye."

She hung up before I could reply and I frowned. "Bye." I muttered to myself.

Deciding that I would start turning into a prune if I stayed in the water any longer, I quickly got out and wrapped a towel around myself. Right when I walked from my bathroom to my room, there was a knock on the front door. Knowing that Rebekah was the only one coming over, quickly walked down stairs and opened the door.

My cheeks lightly started to blush as I saw that Rebekah had decided to bring Kol with her.

"Are you sure you want to come over with only that, darling? Not that I'm complaining." He gave a mischievous grin.

I started to blush even more as my embarrassment grew from his comment. Rebekah only rolled her eyes and came inside, pulling me along with her as she closed the door and told Kol to wait in the car.

"Get dressed," she told me as she pushed me towards the stairs.

Once I got to my room, I had finally finished dying of embarrassment. From there, I quickly got dressed and ran back down the stairs.

* * *

I felt a bit hesitant as we walked inside the Mikaelson mansion. Usually when I would be here, there would only be Klaus, and the mansion wasn't fully complete. Now that it was completed and all Mikaelson siblings were awakened, it was like entering someone's home for the first time.

"There you both are." I jumped slightly as a voice broke me through my thoughts. I looked to see that it was the brother Klaus called Finn. "Mother wants everything to go smoothly, so we must begin to prepare ourselves."

"Well then," Kol began, "let's pretty ourselves shall we?" With a grin, he walked away.

"While the boys dress, we need to get started on our manicures and pedicures." Rebekah started pulling me along into a room.

"Before you leave," Finn spoke before we fully left. He turned to me and stuck out his hand. "Formal introductions are in order. Finn Mikaelson."

I stuck my hand out to meet his. "Evangeline. Though I prefer Eva." Instead of shaking my hand like I initially thought he would, he turned it gently and kissed the back of it. I gave a small smile at the gentlemanly act.

After a slight nod of his head, he let go, and Rebekah finished pulling me along. When we got inside of the room, she pushed me slightly to where I fell on the couch. Sitting down next to me, she motioned to two women to begin their job.

"My brothers seem to have taken quite a liking towards you." She said as the women began working on our feet after we took off our shoes.

I didn't see what she did. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Nik hasn't killed you. He was even nice to you when he removed the compulsion and gave you a dress to wear. Elijah is a given since he's kind to anyone who seems close to anyone of his siblings. Kol didn't kill you when he drank your blood." She paused when she saw the surprised look on my face. "Oh, don't make that face; he told me what happened. Anyway, as I was saying: Kol must have found you somewhat interesting for him not to take advantage. There's also what recently happened with Finn as well. He isn't always kind, and he normally pays no women any mind unless they are Sage."

"Who's Sage?" My curiosity got the best of me.

"She's the whore that my brother is in love with." Rebekah's voice was bitter and annoyed at the mere thought of her brother being in love with her.

For some reason, that names seemed extremely familiar. It was as if I heard about her before, but I couldn't remember unfortunately. Not wanting to dwell on it, I forced it to the back of my head.

Rebekah saw that the two women were done. "Okay, now for the hands."

"I'm only curious, but are the mani-pedis really necessary?" I asked this while watching the women work.

I heard a voice laced with humor. "I would assume it is her need for everything to be perfect." I looked up to see Elijah. He was smiling in amusement.

"Oh, shut it, Elijah." Rebekah slightly pouted. "Someone put on some music. It's a little to quiet."

I heard the door opened moments later and in came Kol and Finn. Behind them walked two older men who I assumed was here to help them with any other preparations. They were dressed in their suits, except Finn who didn't have the jacket on yet. Looking at all of Rebekah's siblings now, besides Klaus, I noticed just how attractive each of them were.

Apparently, Kol seemed to think so as well, about himself at least. As Finn stood to the side of the couch where Rebekah and I sat, Kol stood in front of a medium sized full length mirror, admiring himself.

He began adjusting his bow tie. "Rebekah? Tell me how handsome I am."

Her nails were finished, so she began to inspect them. Soon mine were done as well. "Ah Kol, you know I can't be compelled." I gave out a laugh that I didn't bother to hide, and I saw that Finn was even grinning. Elijah was only inspecting a shoe.

Suddenly door slams open and in walked Klaus. "You went after Elena? What is wrong with you?"

Rebekah only rolled her eyes. "Here we go."

"Do you want another dagger in your heart?" I was hoping that wouldn't happen with their siblings in the room.

Luckily, Kol intervened. "Again with the dagger threats? Don't you have any other tricks?"

Without missing a beat, Klaus turned his head to Kol. "Oh, go back to staring at yourself."

I wanted to laugh, but I held myself back. Not only did the situation not call for it, but Kol also spoke again. "And who are you, my father?"

Klaus became even further angered. "No, Kol, but you're in my house." I was a bit afraid of a fight breaking out between them.

"Then perhaps we should go outside." He walked up to Klaus.

As Klaus and Kol stood face to face, a woman walked in and stopped them. "Enough! Niklaus... come." Based on how similar she looked to Originals, I assumed she was their mother.

"Well," Rebekah began, "I have to go and invite Matt as my date."

I quickly looked at her. "Wait, what?"

"I'm inviting Matt. I hope you don't mind." With that said she started walking off. As she was walking, she quickly told me that the maids have everything ready for me.

I frowned. Sure, Matt and I had a falling out, but it barely just happened. Not to mention, Rebekah was supposed to be a friend. I just shook my head since I didn't want to think too much on it and looked at the maid who motioned for me to follow her, and I did.

* * *

The ball was in full swing, the music was playing at a perfect level, and everything looked beautiful. I stood watching everyone talk and socialize and felt slightly out of place. I couldn't help but continuously admire the dress that Rebekah had gotten for me.

The dress was a beautiful rich blue. The top was sleeveless and made of pure lace and wrapped over my shoulders, the back was open completely with an exception to the shoulder blades, the waist had a thin bengaline silk sash wrapped around it that tied into a small bow at the back, and the skirt of the dress was made of multiple layers of polyester chiffon that puffed outward and was floor length. My shoes were just simple black pumps. My hair had a braid that began from the front of my head towards the side and led towards the back into a medium sized bun, and my bangs were left to the side in a seeping motion.

"You look lovely." I heard Elijah's voice behind me, and when I turned I saw that he was with Finn, Klaus, and Kol.

I smiled at his compliment, then turned to everyone. "Thank you. You all look very nice."

"No need to stroke their ego." Finn chuckled. "They're large enough as it is."

Kol smirked. "There no such thing as being too large." He winked at me when he said this. I felt my eyes widen and face become warm slightly.

"Kol, don't tease the poor girl." Elijah held out his arm to me. "Would you do me the pleasure of walking with me? I wish to speak with you shortly if you don't mind."

I wrapped my arm though his. "Sure." I turned to the others and waved as we walked away.

One we were far enough, Elijah began to talk. "First, I would like to apologize for anything my brother Niklaus has done towards you, if he has caused you harm that is."

"Thank you" I spoke softly. "Honestly, I can't say he has done any harm towards me at all. I may not have enjoyed the compulsion, but he wasn't cruel."

"Very well." He stopped and turned to face me. "Now, there is a question I must ask."

I tilted my head in confusion and bit my lip. "What is it?"

"What are your relations towards my family? After my brother removed the compulsion placed upon you, you insisted that you still help, which means there would have to be some relations."

I was a bit shocked since that was the last thing I thought he would ask. "I think of Rebekah as a close friend of mine. She's helped me understand this psycho town, and she even helped find my family. Klaus is someone who happens to be more of an acquaintance. I decided to help him not to help him gain control or anything like that, but because Rebekah was in one of those coffins. Not to mention, your family had nothing to do with that mess."

Elijah smiled. "That seems very... Noble of you. If you don't mind me asking, however, what did you mean about your family?"

"About finding them?" He nodded. "Well, I'm adopted, but I've always wanted to know who my family was that gave me away. What Rebekah helped me find is that my birthday parents are dead, and I have no other living relatives. Though we did find out that I had two undead ones."

"And they are?"

"The Salvatore brothers," I said simply. "Unfortunately they both happen to be complete jerks."

"I'm very sorry to hear that." I then saw the mayor from afar.

I look back at Elijah apologetically. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but if you'll excuse me, I have to talk to the mayor."

"Of course." He nodded his head and walked away.

* * *

I began to walk towards Mayor Lockwood, remembering the message my mom wanted me to pass on. When I had finally reached her, she was alone and her back was to me.

"Excuse me, Mayor Lockwood?" I tapped her on the shoulder as to not startle her.

She turned around to face me and smiled. "Hello. I'm sorry, but I don't think I know you."

I smiled to be polite. "I just moved here with my mom some time ago. I'm Evangeline Emerson. My mother, Chloe, asked me to pass on a message to you."

"Oh! Yes, I was waiting on a message from Chloe." She looked almost relieved.

"She called me this morning, and she asked me to tell you that Dr. Westfield's research and experiment should be finished towards the end of the summer."

For some reason, she was surprised. "Did she say anything else?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm sorry. She didn't want to say anything else."

She went to say something else, but Damon decided to come up to us.

He looked to Mayor Lockwood and completely ignored my presence. "Hanging out with your new besties?"

She talked to him as though her was a child. "I'm the mayor, Damon. When the oldest, deadliest, family of vampires moves into your town, you welcome them with a smile."

Damon was his sarcastic self of course. "Hmm, Well at least you know who you're borrowing that cup of sugar from."

The Mayor kept up with her argument. "I'm trying to protect this town. They've assured me they want peace, and I've assured them that I'd enforce it."

"You know, for someone so old, it's very interesting how you are so close minded." I think Mayor Lockwood had forgotten I was there because she looked a bit panicked.

Kol chose then to walk up to us. "Eva," He winked at me, "Mayor Lockwood. We haven't formally met. Kol Mikaelson. I hope your lovely town embraces us just as much as we plan to embrace it." He took her hand and kissed the back of it.

"Damon Salvatore. Have we met?" I rolled my eyes at how much of an ass he is.

Kol just looked at him. "I've met a lot of people. And you don't particularly stand out." I tried to control my laughter as best as I could, but it was obvious that I wanted to.

Damon then started to stare towards the entrance, and I turn to see that it was because everyone's favorite doppelganger had walked in.

"Excuse me, Carol." Damon acted as though we was compelled and walked away. I stared at him in disbelief.

"Well, goodbye to you too." I rolled my eyes and puffed out my cheeks.

I saw that both brothers were flocked our Elena as though they craved her attention. It was pretty sad to watch. Soon enough, I see the both of them extend their elbows to escort her… and she takes them both.

Suddenly, I hear a voice in my ear. "Don't tell me you're jealous of the attention that the latest doppelganger is getting?"

I jumped slightly and turned my head to see Kol. "Of course not." I noticed how close we were, so I turned to face him which gave us some distance. "That would be a bit disgusting since I happen to be distantly related to them."

Kol then looks up towards the staircase and flashes me a grin before he leaves. Not long after I heard Elijah's voice. "Uh, if everyone could gather, please"

I turned to see all of the originals standing on the staircase just as Finn spoke. "Excuse me." Everyone else then turns as well.

Elijah began to speak again. "Welcome, and thank you for joining us. You know, whenever my mother brings our family together like this, it's tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance." I see Esther come down the stairs and look upon the guests.

I distantly hear Damon say, "Do you see who I see?"

I also heard Stefan reply, "Oh, yeah."

My focus goes back on Elijah as I figure he's more worth listening to. "Tonight's pick is a centuries-old waltz, so if all of you could please find yourselves a partner, please join us in the ballroom."

Conversations began to overlap as excitement took over. Still staring, I see Esther retreat silently back upstairs and purse my lips in thought. From the corner of my eye I see Elena move to go upstairs to follow, but Damon blocked her way. Shaking my head, I decide that it's none of my business and stopped bothering to watch them.

I was standing off to the side feeling slightly awkward as couples began to form for the dance. I noticed Rebekah was with Matt, Elena was with Damon, and the blonde from school who I keep forgetting her name—Coralyn or something like that I think—was with Klaus. I couldn't see where Finn, Elijah, or Kol was.

"You look too lovely not to dance, darling." I turned my head to the left and saw Kol standing next to me.

"It's kind of hard to dance when I don't have anyone to dance with." I felt myself slightly pouting.

"Well now you do." To my surprise, Kol extends his hand for me to grab. After the shock wore off, I slowly smiled and put my hand in his.

With my hand in his, we joined all of the other couples in the ballroom. As we began the dance, I couldn't help but notice Kol and I were behind Damon and Elena. I tried not to roll my eyes at the sight of them.

"I can't tell who your dislike is aiming towards more. Him or her?" Kol surprised me.

I looked to him and thought about what he said. "My dislike is towards them both. Though, it's more aimed towards her. Since the first moment I spoke to her, there has been something about her that I don't like at all.

We passed through Elijah with some random girl, and Rebekah with Matt. I saw Matt glance towards me awkwardly, and Rebekah just looked away. I bit my lip and looked away as well. As Kol spun me to face him, I saw him looking at them.

"Who is he?" He began to smirk in a way that promised trouble.

"That's Matt," I started, "Why?"

He looked back towards me and pulled me slightly closer so no one would hear. "He's staring at you, yet he's dancing with Rebekah. Tell me, did my sister happen to steal your boyfriend?" He grinned at me.

"No." I began to pout. "We had something… but that isn't anything anymore. Rebekah did nothing wrong."

He chuckled a bit. "Your face says otherwise." He seemed to enjoy teasing me.

Before I could respond, it was time to switch partners. I huffed in annoyance and turned to see it was Elijah that I had ended up with. I immediately smiled since I was hoping for someone familiar.

"I trust that Kol has not displeased you too much?" He seems slightly concerned.

"Kol was only teasing me." I grinned. "No need to worry."

Elijah seemed to be relieved, but then noticed something behind me. When we turned, I followed his trail of sight and saw Elena and Stefan heading outside. I looked back at him in confusion, but decided not to question him. For the rest of the time we danced together, we were in silence. It wasn't awkward or uncomfortable thankfully.

The next time partners were switched, and I ended up dancing with Klaus. I felt slightly nervous since the most I've seen out of him had seemed volatile.

He was smirking at me. "I make you nervous."

"Only because I have no idea of what to expect from you." I didn't see the point in bothering to deny it.

"Honesty. It's quite refreshing." He smiled, and I couldn't help but notice how adorable and innocent his dimples made him look. I chuckled a bit at the irony. He raised an eyebrow in question.

I smiled up at him. "I'm sorry. I just had a weird though."

"Do share." He seemed intrigued.

I felt a bit embarrassed from how random the thought was, so I began to blush a bit. "When you smiled, your dimples showed. It make you look very adorable and innocent, so I couldn't help but notice the irony of it."

"I've been alive for a thousand years, yet this may be the first time someone has described me just as you have." He seemed in thought, but quickly snapped out of it.

The next few moments, I looked around the ballroom and saw that Rebekah was staring at me. I didn't know why she was acting so weirdly.

"Something bothering you?" I turned back to look at Klaus.

I bit my lip for a few moments, deciding if I should tell him. "Well, it's Rebekah."

He rolled his eyes. "And what has my darling sister done this time?"

I shake my head slightly. "It isn't anything like that, she's just been acting strangely." I pursed my lips while thinking of how to explain it. "Like… well, she was acting fine earlier when she brought me here, but then she left, and I haven't seen her since. Now, she's either avoiding me or staring as she just was."

"Rebekah will most likely reveal what is causing her behavior sooner or later. It could have something to do with that quarterback she seems to fancy." He rolled his eyes again.

My eyes widened and quickly snapped back to Rebekah. "She likes him?" I looked back at him only to see him smirking. I huffed in annoyance at him.

Soon enough after that, partners were once again changed. I was now face to face with Matt. For the beginning of our dance, there was a silence that was extremely awkward, and we avoided looking at each other.

Mustering up my courage, I slowly looked up at him. I exhaled and began to speak softly. "I'm sorry."

Matt looked shocked at what I said. "What?"

"I said 'I'm sorry'." I became nervous and bit my lip.

"Listen, maybe I should be the one apologizing." Now it was my time to become surprised. "I was pretty much being a dick to you. We had just started to explore something that could have possibly gotten somewhere, but I was a jerk to you just because of who you were hanging out with."

I smiled at him. "I guess we can both agree we overreacted, huh?"

We both ended up laughing. "Yeah, we did. Look, how about we forget about what happened? What do you say, friends?"

I grinned up at him, happy. "Friends." I nodded.

"You look beautiful, by the way." I began to smile larger and looked away so he wouldn't see.

"You don't look too bad yourself." I looked back at him and playfully winked.

Next thing I know, it's time to switch partners again. I huffed to see that I was now dancing with Damon.

"Well excuse me for not being someone you would like to dance with." He rolled his eyes at me.

I glared at him. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I hurt your feelings?" I began to become sarcastic towards him. "I mean, it's not like I basically had no interest in finding out I had a living relative and told you to basically leave me alone. Wait, no, I remember now, that was you."

"Please tell me you're not still upset about that?" He looked at me, annoyed.

His annoyance only made me angry. "You could have at least attempted to try or something. Or even rejected accepting me as family nicer! I have been wanting to find something, anything, about my family for years. Excuse me for being upset about what a let down it turned out to be."

"Well what did you expect? Did you really expect someone who never even knew you existed to welcome you with open arms? Newsflash, this is the real world. That kind of stuff only happens in movies." I looked down to avoid looking at him.

"I was expecting more that just two brothers. I was expecting there to be at least someone who would be willing to try." Tears filled my eyes, but I willed them not to fall. "I didn't expect to only find two brothers who are technically not even alive."

For the rest of the time, I stayed staring away from Damon. Not soon enough, partners were again changed, but I was with someone I had never met. We shared a brief and awkward smile, but that was it. Thankfully, the person I ended up paired with after that was somewhat familiar.

"Hello again, Finn." I gave a small smile. He only stayed quiet, but did smile softly in return. As quick as he did, though, it had went away. "So, how are you enjoying yourself so far?"

"It is rather difficult becoming used to the way people are now, but I have found this ball to be enjoyable once I have looked passed that." He answered a moment after.

"I'm glad." I gave another small smile, and we both fell into silence. It was like an awkward silence that makes you wish for conversation, but I didn't know what else to say.

Soon enough, I was back to Kol.

"I take it you reconciled things with Rebekah's date, then?" It was the first thing he said to me.

"You were watching?" I was a bit surprised, so I didn't answer his question.

"Rebekah was watching the two of you. It was annoying." That made more sense of course.

I then remembered his question. "To answer your question, we did, but as friends. Rebekah has nothing to worry about."

"Good luck trying to convince her of that." He still seemed a bit annoyed by her.

I smiled teasingly. "Don't tell me you're worried, Mr. Mikaelson?"

He grinned in response. "Well, who else is going to freely offer me their blood and be a worthy dance partner, Ms. Emerson." I was slightly surprised that he had played along, but I couldn't help but laugh anyway.

Everyone had begun to slow to a stop at that moment. Finally, the dance had ended. Kol and I moved apart, and he began to walk towards Rebekah. As I turn to walk outside for some air, I see Damon heading off somewhere, but decide to ignore it.

Once I was back inside, I noticed that some people had decided to go home. The party seemed a lot less full than it had before. As I was looking around, I noticed that Esther was back on the staircase. When our eyes made contact, I felt something inside of me respond. My eyes widened in surprised, and I slightly stepped backwards. Even she seemed a bit surprised. Feeling uncomfortable and confused at what just happened, I decided to break eye contact with her.

Hearing a crystal ring, I am forced to look back up towards her as I see she is the source. "Good Evening, Ladies and Gentleman. Waiters are coming around with champagne. I invite you all to join me in raising a glass. It provides me with no greater joy than to see my family back together as one. I'd like to thank you all for being part of this spectacular evening. Cheers!"

A waiter had given me, along with everyone else a glass of champagne, so we all raised it. "Cheers!"

As I sipped the drink, I spotted Rebekah and decided that it was time to speak with her. I quickly gulped down the rest of it and started to walk towards her, determined. When I reached her, I saw that she seemed slightly nervous once she saw me.

"I'm sorry." She blurted out an apology after I had stopped in front of her.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." I was surprised at how she was acting. "Though a better head up would have been nice." I decided to tease her a bit.

She pouted. "I thought you would be angry with me."

I bit my lip. "I was a bit upset at first, actually. But I think that was more from you not saying anything to me."

Suddenly, something is heard outside, and Stefan rushes out. Seconds later, Rebekah and I heard him yell. "Damon! Are you crazy?!"

The Mikaelsons minus Kol, Elena, and myself then rushed out to see what had happened.

When we got outside, we saw Damon standing over and unconscious Kol. "Maybe a little. Far be it for me to cause a problem." He was answering Stefan's question, but was staring at Elena as he said it.

I began to look between the two. Somehow, Damon's sudden reckless behavior seemed to stem from something that had to do with Elena. Deciding that I had enough excitement for the night, I walk away to leave as well.

* * *

As I was halfway home, I saw a blur at the corner of my eye. I turned to see what it was, but I saw nothing. Once I faced forward again, though, I jumped almost screamed. Kol was standing right in front of me.

He seemed to enjoy the fact that he almost gave me a heart attack. "You know, it's dangerous to walk alone at night."

Once I calmed down enough I childishly stuck my tongue out at him. "It's not like I had a choice."

Kol seemed to think for a moment before giving me a devilish grin that made me both want to jump his bones and weary of what he was thinking. Suddenly, he grabbed me and sped off. Once we had stopped, I had to stop my heart from trying to escape my chest.

I looked at him in disbelief, "Are you trying to kill me?!"

Laughing in my face, he stepped away from me. "You're welcome." With that said, he was gone.

I shook my head. "Vampires, I swear."

I then looked around and realized that I was in front of my house. Opening the door, I was surprised at the sight when I stepped inside. "Mom?"


	10. Chapter 10

I was in the middle of curling my hair when I heard my phone ring. I looked to see it was an unknown number, but I put it on speaker and answered anyways.

"Hello?" I was slightly confused.

"Hello, little one." I could tell from the voice, and the nickname, that it was Klaus.

"How did you get my number?" I didn't remember giving it to him.

"I have my ways. Now, I need you to come over." There were some noises in the background.

I paused to put hairspray in my hair. "What for?"

"Because I said so." I rolled my eyes at this.

"Well," I picked up the phone, "what's in it for me?"

I heard and aggravated sigh come from the other end which made me grin. "Just do as I say."

I pouted. "Oh, fine. You're no fun." I could have sworn I heard Kol in the background tease Klaus about that in the background. "I'll be there."

He hung up without saying anything after. Picking up my keys, I walked down the stairs and headed for the door. I quickly yelled out to my mom that I was going over to a friends house. When I got outside, I saw that it was nice, so I decided to walk instead of drive. I also knew that it would take longer, which would also aggravate Klaus a bit.

* * *

After some time, I finally arrived at my destination. I walk through the Mikaelson mansion looking for Klaus when I spot Elijah. I called out to him.

"Hello Evangeline." He greets me with a polite smile.

"I apologize if I'm disturbing you, but could you tell me where I could find Klaus?" I smile back at him.

"He's in the living room with Kol. Also, I would like to apologize for how the ball had ended."

"It's fine Elijah." I gave him a quick smile. "Thank you. I'll be going now." I gave him a quick hug and walked away from him.

When I got into the room, I saw that Klaus looked bored. He looked almost relieved when he saw me.

"Finally, you're here." He groaned.

I was both confused and amused. "I wasn't aware I was being timed." I sat down in an empty one-seater sofa chair.

"Kol here has been a pest all morning." He gestured to Kol who grinned. "I was hoping with you here, his attention would be taken off of me."

"Don't be silly, Nik. I'll have time for the both of you." His assurance only made Klaus more annoyed.

Luckily, before an argument or fight could break out, Rebekah then entered the room wearing the same dress as the night before, and Kol went to stand in front of her. "Well, well, well, there's our girl." He was teasing her.

Rebekah was only annoyed of course. "Get out of my way, Kol."

"Out all night. What a scandal! I trust you did better than that commoner? Matt, was it?" At that I bit my lip and looked down.

"If you don't shut your mouth, the next thing to come out of it will be your teeth. From the corner of my eye I saw Klaus grins. Rebekah saw as well and turned towards him. "Don't start, Nik!"

He's becomes even more amused. "I didn't say anything."

Kol sits back down. "I'm bored. Our sister is a strumpet, but at least she's having fun. I need entertainment." He looks at me when he said that last part. and I raises an eyebrow. It was almost as though he was pouting.

Klaus broke up our impromptu staring contest that I was sure was one sided by speaking. "What are you waiting for? Go on, have at it."

Kol began to whine. "It's not fun to go alone. Join Eva and me, Nik! It's the least you can do after sticking a dagger in my heart."

I looked at him a bit confusedly. "I'm going somewhere with you?"

He turned to me and winked. "Of course." I couldn't help but blush lightly at the wink.

Klaus interrupted us. "Well if you two are done, we should get going. I didn't have nearly enough to drink last night, what with you trying to murder Rebekah's date."

Rebekah then spoke which made me remember she was with us. "Yes, please go, this house has enough men rolling around it in."

I laughed at that as Kol began to drag me along with them to go who knows where. Of course he couldn't leave without teasing her first. "Just like you, Bekah."

As we left the room I saw Rebekah throws her shoe towards Kol. "Good riddance, both of you! And give back Eva!" We passed Elijah when she yelled this, and I couldn't help but giggle at his confused face.

* * *

We ended up going to the Mystic Grill as "entertainment". Kol was still dragging me along with him which landed with me going with them towards the bar. When we got there, we stood in front of Mr. Saltzman and some woman.

I didn't hear what they were saying before hand, but it appears that Klaus had. "Oh come on now. Let's not go blaming the new family in town just because you lot have got yourselves a killer at large. Don't mind us. My brother and I are just here to let off some steam, right Kol?" He of course agreed.

I heard the woman ask, "And her?"

Everyone turned to look at me, making me uncomfortable. Luckily Klaus spoke up. "Well, we do have friends, of course."

Mr. Saltzman and the woman only rolled their eyes and went back to their own business. Klaus and Kol decided to just go towards the other end of the bar, pulling me along with them. They both sat down, but I stood between them, not wanting to sit down.

As Kol and Klaus talked, I looked around a bit bored. Suddenly, Caroline walking in. She looked a little occupied, and she shared a suspicious glance with Mr. Saltzman. It was almost as though they were planning something, but I could have just been paranoid.

Kol noticed her as well and pointed at her. "I remember her from last night. She looks like a tasty little thing."

Klaus leaned over to Kol. "Say another word, and I'll tear out your liver." As soon as she was close enough he called to her. "Caroline!"

I turned to him with my eyebrow slightly raised "Didn't you try to kill her?"

"Oh, it's you." She sassed Klaus before turning to face me. "We never officially met. I'm Caroline."

She wasn't giving me the best vibe, so I didn't bother with pleasantries. "Eva."

"You know, I would have never took you for an original groupie with how Matt spoke about you." Her eyes narrowed at me, and she gave me a small smirk.

I couldn't help myself. I glared darkly at her as anger spread throughout all of me. With my anger, I didn't even notice cracks slowly appearing in a glass behind me, nor how Kol's eyes narrowed on it.

Klaus seemed to ignore what happened between the two of us, however. "Join us for a drink?"

She turned back to him. "Mmm, I'd rather die of thirst. But thanks." Finally, she turned around and left.

"Isn't she stunning?" I wasn't sure who he was asking exactly.

Kol smirked and couldn't help but tease him. "She certainly looks good walking away from you."

"I'll take that as a challenge." Klaus got up and walked after her.

I could feel Kol watching me. I saw from the corner of my eye that he was offering a drink. Without looking at him, I told him, "No."

"And here I thought we were having fun." He turned to face me.

I looked at him. "We're at a bar. I'm underage. If you wanted to have fun with liquor, we might as well have gone somewhere with less prying eyes."

He held up his hands in mock defeat. "Easy there, darling." He laughed and moved closer. "I might just take you up on your offer of," he paused to smirk, "having _fun_ while alone."

His comment caused a blush to spread throughout my face. "I didn't mean that type of fun, and you know it!"

He only made himself look innocent. "Now what type of 'fun' are _you_ talking about? I meant your suggestion of a private drinking party."

I gaped at his attempt to turn things around. "Oh, shut it." I huffed and looked away. "Why don't you just go away." I was pouting and trying not to laugh.

"And why would I do that? I like pretty little things with sharp tongues." Kol reached towards me and touched my face. With the corners of my lips turning up, I lightly slap his hand away. I noticed that my anger was slipping away because of him.

Suddenly, I see Mr. Saltzman walk up behind him. "I'm pretty sure she told you to get lost."

Kol looked annoyed at that. "I'm pretty sure I don't care."

He turned around and faced him. As soon as he did, Mr. Saltzman stabbed him with a dagger. "Next time, take a hint."

I go to scream, but a hand quickly covers my mouth. I tried to kick whoever it was, but then I felt something sharp pressed to my side. Not wanting to risk being stabbed, I froze. We then began to leave through the back without looking suspicious.

Once we were outside, I was led into an alleyway. From the corner of my eye, I saw Mr. Saltzman dragging Kol along as well.

"What is she doing here?" My eyes widened as I saw Stefan and Damon. Unfortunately I wasn't able to say anything to them since my mouth was still being covered.

"We had to bring her." I heard the woman from earlier speak from behind me. "They were together."

Stefan looked surprised and turned to me. "What the hell were you doing with Kol?"

My mouth was then uncovered. "How is that any of your business? And what is going on here?!"

"It's my business because you're family." He walked until he was in front of me. "I promised Zach, Aurora, and Ethan that I would protect you."

"Wait, what?" I became confused. "Who's Aurora?"

"We don't have time for this!" Mr. Saltzman intervened. "Here, grab him!"

I saw Damon go to grab him. "Good work."

Suddenly, I see Mr. Saltzman get thrown against the wall. My eyes widened because I couldn't see who it was at first, but then I noticed it was Klaus once he pulled the dagger out of Kol. Stefan went to attack Klaus, but he was thrown into the stairs. I feel the woman, whose name I still don't know, start squeezing me in fright which causes me to flinch slightly.

Klaus glances at me before staring angrily at Damon. "I should have killed you months ago."

"Do it." Damon idiotically stepped forward. "It's not going to stop Esther from killing you."

My eyes widened from hearing what he said. "What did you say about my mother?" Klaus was shocked.

"You didn't know I was friends with your mummy? Yeah, we have a lot in common. She hates you as much as I do." Klaus was about to attack Damon.

"Leave him!" I looked up and saw that Elijah had appeared. "We still need them, Niklaus."

"What did mother do? What did she do, Elijah?" Klaus seemed almost desperate to know.

Elijah ignored him and walked towards Damon, holding a phone. "You tell me where the witches are, or I'll have my sister kill Elena right now."

Damon had the nerve to seem shocked. "You told me we had until after nine."

"I'm sure Rebekah will be more than happy to start her work early." There was a stare down between the two vampires before Damon finally put his hands up in surrender.

Damon, the woman, and Mr. Saltzman began to leave after that threats. As Stefan are leaving, I step in front of him. I look up at him and ask, "Who is Aurora?"

He hesitates, glancing towards Elijah and Klaus, then sighs. "Aurora LaRue was your mother." My eyes widen, and I step away from him in order to process everything. I barely even notice him walking away.

Suddenly, Elijah is in front of me. "Perhaps you should go home and rest." He seemed to have noticed my shocked state. I couldn't help but hesitate and bite my lip as I look towards Kol, then move my eyes to Klaus.

Klaus smirks. "Let her stay with us if she wishes, that may ease her mind more." I gave a small smile at his suggestion.

Looking towards Kol again, I decide to walk towards him. Sitting next to him with my legs underneath me, I lift his head to lay on my lap and absentmindedly began to run my fingers through his hair. I felt bad that he was pretty much left to wake up on the ground. I was so concentrated on what I was doing that I didn't even notice he awoke, so when he had grabbed my hand to stop me, I slightly jumped and took my hand away. Looking at him as he got up made me start to turn red from the embarrassment of being caught.

* * *

We were walking through the woods when we finally saw an old abandoned house. In front of it was Esther and Finn standing in a circle with a pentagram while surrounded by torches on fire. In back of them I saw Bonnie and some woman retreat into the house.

When we got close enough Esther spoke. "My sons, come forward."

Finn seemed paranoid. "Stay beside me, Mother."

"It's okay. They can't enter." She stood staring at her sons with no remorse.

Kol became agitated and walked closer. "That's lovely. We're stuck out here, while the favorite son plays sacrificial lamb. How pathetic you are, Finn."

Esther scolded him. "Be quiet, Kol. Your brother knows virtue you cannot even imagine."

"Whatever you think of us, killing your own children will be an atrocity." Elijah tried to reason with her.

Esther stood unwavering. "My only regret is that I did not let you die a thousand years ago." My eyes widened, and I gasped silently at her harsh words, surprised that she could think this about her children.

Klaus had enough. "Enough. All this talk is boring me. End this now, Mother, or I'll send you back to Hell."

"For a thousand years, I've been forced to watch you. Felt the pain of every victim, suffered while you shed blood. Even you, Elijah, with your claim to nobility, you're no better. All of you. You're a curse on this Earth. Stretched out over generations. If you've come to plead for your life, I'm sorry, you've wasted your time." Esther seemed almost… saddened.

I had moved a bit closer to the three brothers as she had said this, and it seems as though my movement had caught her attention. She stared at me as she had the night before, and again I felt something within me respond to her.

"You have no idea what you are, do you? Nor do you know what you're capable of." She seemed almost confused.

"What are you talking about?" I was almost scared to ask.

She ignored my question. "Someone with your power shouldn't be siding with the likes of vampires." My eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Even with your curse, your power leaks through cracks that seem to only get larger."

I was getting anxious. "What power are you talking about? I'm only human."

Instead of answering as I had hoped, Esther instead decided to start her spell. All any of us could do was watch as she continued on. Something in the air changed. The hairs on the back of my head began to stand up, and I was getting goose bumps as well. As she was in the middle of her spell, however, she stopped and became despaired.

Esther looked around. "No! Sisters! Do not abandon me!"

"Mother!" Fearing for her, Finn grabbed her and disappeared. As he did, the torches flared up, which caused us to have to cover our faces, then died out. We were all in shock at what just happened.

After the shock wore off, Klaus and Kol moved into the circle to inspect it while Elijah came towards me. I couldn't stop thinking about what she said. Had it not been for the reaction I felt when I saw her, I would have dismissed her words as lies.

"Allow me to walk you home." Elijah broke me from my thoughts.

I smiled weakly. "Thank you."

Placing a hand on my back to move me along, we began to walk. They whole way to my house was filled with silence. I was grateful since it allowed me to think over everything that has happened. Soon enough, we were at my house. Turning to Elijah, I smiled in thanks. Giving a smile of his own, he patted my head and walked away.

When I go inside of my house, I saw that my mom was about to head out. Giving me a tense smile, she asked, "Who was that?"

"He's my friend's brother. He offered to walk me home." I began walking passed her.

"That was nice of him." Because my back was to her, I was unable to see the worried look on her face as she walked out.

* * *

The next morning, I am awoken by Rebekah who decided to barge into my room. She threw my covers off of me and opened the curtains covering my windows. I had no choice but to get up. Without explaining to me why she was here, she only shoved me towards my bathroom. By the time I was out, she had already laid out some clothes for me.

"Okay, what's going on?" I looked at her exasperated.

She put her hands on my shoulders. "Just get dress and meet me downstairs." She started to leave my room, but stopped once she reached my door way. She turned to face me again. "By the way, your mother asked me to tell you she was going shopping."

With her gone from the room, I decided to just get ready. After about fifteen minutes, I was downstairs, and we were off.

Turning to her as we were going wherever she was taking me, I asked, "Now will you tell me what's going, and where we are going?"

"You're accompanying me to speak with the mayor." She looked a little afraid.

I became worried. "What about?"

She hesitated. "I found evidence that there was another Wike Oak tree that had grown three hundred years after we left back to the Old World. I'm trying to find out what happened to it, and destroy it before anyone else figures it out."

"Wait, you mean the tree that could kill you?" I whispered just incase, even though it was futile if a vampire was around. Instead of answering, she just gave me a look exasperation.

After we walked into the Mystic Grill, we saw the mayor already seated at one of the tables. We sat down with her.

"Thank you for meeting with us, Mayor. I figured as head of the Preservation Society, you'd be a good person to ask about the oldest trees in this community." Rebekah seemed to be laying the flattery on thick.

"A long line of Lockwood women use to keep those records. Back before any of them had actual jobs." It seemed almost as though she were bragging.

Rebekah was cautious with the information she revealed. "I've been to the Founder's archive, but I can't seem to find any record of the tree I'm looking for."

"It probably got cut down. Big old trees built half of this town in the 1900s." I faintly heard someone come in, so I turned to see Damon and Stefan.

I noticed Damon and Rebekah stare at each other before, so I decided to continue asking questions. "Do you happen to know who kept the milling ledges during that period?"

"Back then all the logging mills were owned by the Salvatores." Rebekah and I shared a look, then turned back to the brothers who were at the bar.

Smiling at the mayor, we thanked her then excused ourselves. After she left, I turned to Rebekah. "I think I'm gonna sit this one out. I'm not too keen on seeing them so soon after what happened yesterday."

She seemed to understand. "Right, my brothers told me of your encounter with them." With that, I left.

* * *

I was home alone writing a letter to my mother some hours later. It read: ' _Mom, I'm going to go on a trip with a few friends, so don't worry if you don't see me until tomorrow. If it ends up becoming longer I'll call you, promise. Don't worry, I'll be perfectly say, and I won't be alone. See you then. -Love you, Eva._ ' Satisfied with it, I picked up my bag which had some clothes and basic necessities, left the note on the kitchen counter, and left. Closing the door behind me, I turned around only to see Kol and almost jumped out of my skin.

"Will you stop doing that?!" I held my chest from the fright.

"And ruin the fun?" He laughed.

I stuck my tongue out. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I thought I would come by and say farewell to my favorite human." He winked which made my cheeks burn.

I tilted my head. "You're leaving?"

He grinned. "Don't look too upset." Looking at the bag slung across my shoulder, he said, "Looks like you're going on a little trip of your own."

I was about to respond, when a thought popped into my head. Instead I bit my lip and stared at Kol. I began grinning. "Before you leave for good, how would you like to accompany me on my 'little trip'?"

He looked intrigued and smirked. "Careful, darling. If I didn't know better I would think you were trying to seduce me."

I huffed. "Of course not. I just need a vampire's help and here you happen to be."

"And why should I help you." He bent over and leaned towards me.

I paused as I looked up at him. I bit my lip. "Because then I'll owe you?" I couldn't help but make it sound like a question.

"Is that all you have?" He laughed. "You really need to work on your persuasion skills. Lucky for you, I happen to be quite bored, so count me in."

I grinned in excitement and pulled him towards my car. Once we got in, I started driving.

Kol turned to me after about two minutes. "So, where are we going? And you never did tell me what you needed me to do."

"Washington, D.C." I quickly glanced at him. "I need you to compel some people for me. It'll make everything easier. I'll tell you more once we're there."


	11. Chapter 11

"Can you tell me again why we have to wait until dark?" Kol complained as he followed me.

"Because it's easier to." I huffed out. I was in the middle of carrying my bag, the one I had I packed before leaving my house, into the room of the hotel we had stopped at.

The hotel was about a fifteen minute walk away from the National Archives Museum we were planning on breaking into. Of course since I'm with Kol, I could have him whisk us there in less than half of that time. We were currently waiting in this hotel, Marriott Marquis, because we had not only arrived too late to be able to stay there long enough, but because I wanted to access everything and anything. That last part requires us to wait since it'll be easier to have only a guard or two to compel rather than dozens of people that will be there.

"So what are you looking for?" Kol asked as he practically threw himself on one of the beds.

"I'm looking for records of my family and my birth." I sat on the other bed and opened up my laptop to try and memorize the way to the archives.

He gave a long sigh. "I thought you knew this already."

I pulled my eyes away from the screen in order to look at him. "Yes, but in order to understand what I am, I want to go further and gather as many connection to any family members that I can. Your mother obviously known something, but seeing as she disappeared, I can't ask her. Not that she would tell me anyway considering how cryptic she was."

Mentioning Kol's mother made me remember my own. I closed my laptop and put it to the side with a sigh. I hoped she wasn't too upset with how I just left, but then again it isn't like she hasn't done the same.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I felt the bed sink behind me. I turned to see Kol who had an impish grin on his face. I raised an eyebrow towards him in question.

He moved closer to me to grab me from behind. He pouted at me as he placed his head on my shoulder. "I'm starved. Feed me."

"You're not a child, Kol. Can't you feed yourself?" I looked away from him and pulled out my phone to play some games.

I heard, and felt since he was still holding me, him chuckle. "I meant blood, darling."

"Oh." I blinked. I hadn't even thought of that. "Don't you have any blood bags or something?"

He squeezed me tighter and whined. "I don't use blood bags."

"Fine." I sighed and moved my hair to the opposite side of him. "No blood on my shirt, though."

"Of course." I felt him pull my shirt further away from my neck, and then there was pain.

It hurt more than when he drank from my wrist. I ended up grabbing and squeezing his arm that was pulling me against him in response to the pain. Finally, after who knows how long, Kol decided that he had enough and pulled away.

As I stood to look at the time, I started to feel lightheaded. "I think you took too much."

"Couldn't help myself. Oops." I turned to face him but only ended up stumbling. Luckily, I caught myself before I fell.

I groaned. "You suck."

"Of course I do, darling. I am a vampire remember?" He chuckled, and I weakly glared at him. "Oh, relax. Here, this will heal you right up."

I saw Kol bite into his wrist, then offer it to me. I hesitated slightly before sitting back down and pulling it to my lips and drinking. It was weird, the experience I mean. I expected to be utterly repulsed by the action, seeing as blood is usually coppery, but I both disliked the taste yet wanted to keep having more. Of course when I felt the awkward sensation of my wound closing, and realized his wrist had healed as well, I moved my lips away.

"You have a bit of blood left on your lips." Kol told me in what seemed like amusement.

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked down to see if I could spot anything as I tried licking my lips. As I did this, I heard Kol trying to smother in a laugh. I looked up and glared. "What?"

He was still chuckling slightly. "You made the most amusing facial expression. I don't believe I've seen anyone cross their eyes that way."

What he said caused my face to flush in embarrassment. I decided to change the subject. "It seems to be late enough; we should get going."

"Oh, but we were having so much fun." He was still grinning. I just rolled my eyes and walked towards the door.

* * *

Were were searching the archive for hours before anything was found. Kol was able to find my original birth certificate.

"You're middle name is Angelique?" He looked at me in amusement.

I pursed my lips in confusion. "I actually didn't know that."

I looked back at the certificate and scanned for my parents names. _Father: Ethan Salvatore_ and _Mother: Aurora Salvatore née Bennett_. My mother's maiden caused my eyes to widen.

Kol whistled. "A Bennett witch. Now that's something I didn't think of."

My mind began to spin with questions. "Let's go further and see if anything else can be found." I quickly took a picture of the document with my phone.

"Look for your father then. I'll find your mother." Kol ruffled my hair, making me pout at him.

Not too long after, I was able to find my father's certificate as well. I took a picture of it before I looked at it. I then frantically searched the page for his mother seeing as his father was just another Salvatore. Then I found it. _Mother: Allina Buchan_. Her name was never changed. However, it wasn't one I recognized at all. Biting my lip, I acted quickly and began to search for her birth certificate. I couldn't find one. I was confused. It was as though she didn't exist at all.

"Eva." I heard Kol. I turned to see him coming to sit by me. "Your mother's parents were Anthony Bennett and Josephine LaRue. Anthony Bennett was the brother of a Sheila Bennett, who I have found to be the young Bonnie Bennett's grandmother. Now, Josephine LaRue, however, happened to come from a long line of powerful witches from New Orleans. I happened to know one during my time there."

"Did you take pictures?" I wanted to make sure. When he nodded, I exhaled in confusion. "So, I'm a witch then? But something doesn't add up. I mean, I was able to be compelled!"

"It seems that you have forgotten my mother mentioning some type of curse placed upon you." He just shrugged.

I bit my lip and thought about what I found. "Maybe there's more to it. It might have to do with my grandmother on my father's side. Her name was Allina Buchan, but I wasn't able to find a single document on her."

"I've heard of that name before." Kol looked pensive. "It seems my memory has escaped me, however. That's unusual."

I groaned. "Why can't anything be simple. Just for once is all I ask."

"The sun is close to rising." I looked at Kol to see him staring out a window. "We should leave, darling."

"Fine." I began to pout and started putting everything away. "Can you send me the pictures by the way?" My vibrating phone a few moments later seemed to be my answer.

About fifteen minutes later, everything was as it was. Making sure we had everything, Kol grabbed me and sped toward the hotel.

Once we were inside of the room, I felt the exhaustion settle in. I immediately go towards my bed, but pause when I was all of my things still laid over it. I groaned at the thought of having to clean it first. As I started walking towards it, however, I heard Kol mumble incoherently and soon after he pulled me onto his bed with him. He was holding my with my back against his chest. I felt as though I was a teddy bear with the way he was holding me to him. I thought about struggling to escape his grasp, but thought against it since, now only was I extremely comfortable, but I did not wish to have to fix the other bed. With that decided, I closed my eyes and relaxed.

* * *

I awoke the next evening to an empty room. It took me a few moments to shake the last remnants of sleep, but when I did, I noticed a folded paper on the table in between both beds. After a few moments of stretching, I sat up and reached for the paper. In the front was a neatly written, _Eva_ , on it. Figuring it was from Kol, I opened it.

 _For such a tiny human, you have quite the grip, darling. -The most handsome Mikaelson, Kol._

I rolled my eyes and gave a slight smile at how he had signed the message, though I was confused on what he was talking about. I just decided to shrug it off, though, and headed towards the shower.

After I was finished in the shower and getting ready to leave, my phone began to ring. It was Rebekah.

"Hello?" I was leaving the room as I answered.

"Are you busy at the moment? I need someone to help rid me of my anger." I heard things smashing in the background.

I was in the elevator by now. "I'm actually not in Mystic Falls at the moment. But, you can just tell me everything that happened. It might help."

"That sounds like bloody therapy." She paused. "Also, you're telling me everything as soon as I see you."

"Just tell me anyways." I placed the key card at the counter and walked out of the hotel. "And I will."

"Damon Salvatore happened." She was seething. "He used me. He pretended to be interested in me, invited me over to his house for some party with Finn's lover Sage, and slept with me just so she could get into my mind!"

My eyes widened. "Why the hell would he do that?" I put the phone on speaker as I turned on my car and started to drive.

"The why doesn't matter. What matters is that he had found out that the Wickery Bridge was made of the White Oak tree I was telling you about the other day. He was going to use it to kill my siblings and me." She sounded as though she were in hysterics.

"Please tell me he didn't get it." I was worried for her and her siblings.

She sighed. "Though I loathe her, Sage does happen to be in love with my brother. When she found out we were linked the two of us burned the bridge."

I bit my lip. "Are you sure you burned all of it?"

"Yes." She sighed again. "I need to tell Klaus what happened. Be prepared for tomorrow." With that said, she hung up.

Rebekah's events seemed to make me even more exhausted than I already was. I couldn't wait to get back to Mystic Falls and rest, even if not for long.

* * *

The next morning, I am woken up by Rebekah. I look to see that the sun wasn't up yet and groaned. "Why are you waking me up this early?"

"You're going to keep my suicidal brother's horrible girlfriend company while I go with Klaus to find him." She was already picking out some clothes for me. "By the way, your mother left a note for you. Something about wanting to have a talk with you later after she's done with her errands."

"Ugh, alright." I reluctantly drag myself out of my bed and into my bathroom to shower and freshen up.

After I was done, we left my house and drove to hers. The beginning half of the ride was pretty uneventful seeing as I was half asleep, but the second half is when Rebekah decided her interrogation would begin.

"So, where were you yesterday?" She glanced at me for a moment.

"I was in D.C. trying to find a family tree of sorts. I figured it would help me know what I am." I forced myself to sit up; I didn't want to fall asleep on her.

"Alone?" She looked confused. "And what do you mean? Aren't you human?"

I pursed my lips. "No, I went with your brother. And as for what I am, according to your mother: I'm not human."

She swerved the car slightly due to her shock. "You went on a road trip with Klaus?! Why in the world would her just drop everything and help you? Unless it was Elijah that you went with?"

"Are you trying to kill me?!" I was wide awake thanks to her now. "And of course I didn't go with Klaus! I didn't go with Elijah either; I went with Kol."

"You went with Kol?" She turned to look at me as though I were insane. "First you dance with him even though you had just met him, then he's persistent with you being with him and Klaus, and now you went off together to another state. Is there something going on between the two of you?"

"Rebekah the road!" I looked at her with wide eyes. Once she looked back towards it, not without an eyeroll I might add, I decided to answer her. "I danced with him because I wanted to dance, and he asked. Also, don't ever tell him this, but he is very attractive." She made a face at that. "But to answer you question: no, there's nothing between the two of us."

Luckily this time she didn't turn to look at me. "So you have no romantic feelings towards my brother what so ever?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but paused. I bit my lip instead. Finally, after a few seconds, I answered. "I can't say that I don't."

"What?!" Her mouth dropped open.

I felt my face begin to burn. "Well, I may or may not be developing feelings Kol. It started as just thinking of him as attractive, but it may be more now."

"But he's my brother! Not to mention a homicidal, psychopathic, unstable, lunatic! He's not one to just fall in love, Evangeline." She screeched.

I winced as her voice got higher with each word. "I'm sorry? I can't exactly help it Rebekah. And I figured that he wasn't, Rebekah. I never said I was going to expect anything to come from this."

"Good!" I started pouting since she still seemed upset with me.

The rest of the car ride was silent.

* * *

By the time we went inside her house, things were still tense between the two of us. Luckily, either because he didn't notice or didn't care, Klaus didn't question anything once he saw us. After some time of silence, it was broken by a woman coming into the room.

She had mid-length coppery-red hair and blue eyes. She was beautiful, and of course tall like almost everyone else in this town seems to be. I assumed she was the love of Finn's life that Rebekah mentioned.

"So, are we doing this?" She seemed impatient.

Rebekah rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Nik and I will bring Finn here. You're going to stay here."

She stormed up to Rebekah, causing me to step away. "What?! No, I'm going with the two of you!"

Klaus seemed to have had enough. "You are staying here, Sage, and that's final. Eva here will keep you company."

As he motioned towards me, I pursed my lips and looked at her cautiously. I had no guarantee that she wouldn't try to kill me. It seemed she wouldn't as she just stormed upstairs somewhere.

"Rude much?" I heard Rebekah mumble. Then, she turned to me "We'll be leaving now."

I grinned. "If I'm killed you can have my things." Rebekah didn't seem to think it was funny if her glaring was any indication.

With a huff, she turned and left. As Klaus passed by me, he ruffled my hair and followed. With them gone, I decided to go upstairs and try to get to know Sage, at least. Might as well since we'll be here for quite some time.

It took me some time to find her, but when I did, she was in a bedroom sitting on a bed. Had it not been for some personal items on the dresser, I would have assumed it wasn't anyone's room. Considering how is was the one room Sage seemed to have sought out, I assumed that it was Finn's.

"Are you going to just stand there, or are you going to come in?" She turned her head to look at me standing in the doorway.

I hesitated slightly before walking over to stand near her. "I'm Eva, as Klaus mentioned before."

"Yes, well as you've heard: I'm Sage." She stared at me. "Why are you even here? You're only a human. They'll kill you eventually, you know."

"I'm here because Rebekah dragged me here. As for with them in general, Rebekah is a friend. And plus, I haven't even done anything to make them want to kill me, so I think I'll be fine." I wasn't going to mention how I wasn't just a human.

She scoffed. "Right. Rebekah's friend. Listen, I'm just here for Finn. Not to make friends with some random human girl who's stupid enough to hang around with vampire."

I glared at her as my temper rose slightly. "I'm not trying to be your friend. Quite frankly, the more time I spend with you, the more I find you utterly deplorable. I'm trying to pass the time by making polite conversation, but it seems you're incapable of that, so I'll be leaving."

With that said, I stormed out of the room and towards where I remembered Rebekah's room to be. Once I got there, I threw myself on her bed and pulled out my phone to keep me busy. I seemed to be hours later when I heard the door downstairs open.

"Finally," I mumble to myself as I head towards them.

As some thinking, I decided to lean against the railing next to the staircase. I wanted to watch how everything played out without being in the line of fire. The first thing I saw was Finn being thrown. Next were Rebekah and Klaus following.

Rebekah looked bored. "Gather your witch. Let's get his blood and get on with it."

"You can't force me to help you." Finn sounded different than he did when I met him at the ball.

"Oh, I most likely could, but why force when I can persuade?" Klaus pointed his hand towards the staircase where Sage was standing.

As she walked down, Finn stared at her. "Hello Finn."

"Sage." I couldn't see her face as her back was to me, but Finn got up and rushed over to her where they embraced.

"What do you know, true love prevails." Rebekah spoke sarcastically.

"It does occasionally have its uses." Klaus seemed almost amused. "Easier than torturing him."

I started to walk down the stairs as Rebekah spoke again. "I have something to do. What do you need from me for this spell?"

"Just your blood and your blessing. Where are you going?" Klaus seemed slightly curious.

"I have some unfinished business with Damon Salvatore. Ask Sage what he did to me. Then you'll understand why retribution is in order." With that said, Rebekah left.

Klaus turned towards me. "And how was your time with Sage?"

I stared up at him. "Please, don't leave me with her alone again. Ever."

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly. "Noted."

He then took out his phone and texted someone. I assumed it was the witch Rebekah spoke of. Looking around awkwardly some time after, I decided that it was time for me to leave.

Before I could, however, Klaus' voice stopped me. "I assume Kol behaved himself with you last night? And this morning as well, of course."

I turned to look at him, shocked. "What? How?"

He was smirking. "I have hybrids everywhere, sweetheart. One of them saw the two of you and decided to gossip a bit. Now tell me, shall I be calling you 'sister' any time soon?"

My mouth dropped open at his tease. "Nothing happened between us!" I scrunched up my face. "And calling me that would be weird."

"If you say so." He was chuckling now.

I pouted at him and went to leave. When I opened the front door to leave the house, I almost bumped into who I assumed was Bonnie Bennett.

"Oh, sorry." I decided not to tell her about what I had found just yet.

"It's fine." She gave a grim smile and waited for something. After a short second or two, I realized she was waiting for me to move.

"Oh! Right, sorry again." This time I moved out of the way.

"Right." She nodded her head and walked inside.

I stuck my hand out. "I'm Eva, by the way. I don't think we've met. You're Bonnie…right?"

"Yeah, that's me." She smiled slightly. "I think I heard about you from Matt and Caroline."

"Well, I'll be going then." I waved at her. "See you around Bonnie." With that said I turned around and left out the door.

I wasn't until I was on the sidewalk that I remember I had came here with Rebekah in her car. This meant I had to walk home, unfortunately.

* * *

As I walk into the living room of my house I noticed my mother standing in deep thought.

"Mom?" I was hesitant to approach her for some reason I couldn't comprehend. "What's wrong?"

"I had my suspicions about your new friends, but it was confirmed when the two Mikaelsons came to the house. See, at first I wasn't going to say anything, but then I saw what you were around today." It seemed as though her mind was somewhere else.

After that thought had passed, her last sentence hit me. "Wait, what? Did you follow me?!"

"I had to know if you were aware of what they are. After seeing that you do, I realized that they must have done something to you. Did they compel you?" I then heard her speak to herself. "It would have been safer if we had just not blocked what made you unable to be compelled."

Ignoring what she muttered for now, I began to become slightly hysterical. "I'm not compelled! How do you even know about these things?!"

"I see." She frowned. "I guess I have no choice then. You can't be mixed up with them anymore. Your parents gave you to me to keep you safe, and that's what I'm going to do."

She started to mutter in a language I couldn't understand. As soon as she started, it seemed as though the room began to spin. I tried to walk towards somewhere to sit, but I only stumbled and fell to the ground. Looking at my mother, I was horrified at the fact that she would do this to me. I started to crawl backwards to try and escape, no matter how feeble I knew it was. No matter what I tried, I could barely move anymore, which made it all the more frightening when she came towards me. In my frightened haze, I almost didn't notice something inside me stir. Suddenly, my mom started to hold her chest and scream in pain. Whatever spell on me quickly disappeared, so I took my chance to run out of the house and into my car.

Some time and driving later, as I was sitting in my car processing everything that has happened, my phone began to ring. I looked to see that it was Klaus. I answered it. "Hello?"

"Finn has been killed." My eyes widened as I heard this. "Because of this, there is something I need you to do."

Without any hesitation, I asked, "What is it?"


	12. Chapter 12

I was driving to the address Klaus had given me to go to when my phone began to ring. I bit my lip while trying to find it without looking away from the road. Finally I found it, so I put it in speaker. "Hello?"

"Where the hell are you?" It was an angry Rebekah. "I've been looking all over for you."

"I'm actually out of town. I've been driving almost all night." I quickly looked down at my GPS and saw that I was almost there.

"Did you forget that the decade dance was today? I even got it changed to the twenties, remember?" I hear her yelling at someone in the background, so I patiently waited until she finished.

"I promise that I didn't forget. I'm just doing a small favor for your brother." I paused as I arrived and parked my car. "I'll be back in time for the dance."

She sighed dramatically. "Alight, but if you don't show, I am hunting you down." Without so much as a 'goodbye', she hung up.

With an amused smile, I got out of the car and looked at the house. Before I could fully take it in though, I feel arms around me, and suddenly I am inside.

With wide eyes, I turned around. "Warn me next time."

"Where is the fun in that?" It was Kol. "Maybe you should be more discreet in your stalking."

My mouth fell open in disbelief. "I am not stalking you!"

"There's no need to deny it, darling. It was only a matter of time with my devilishly handsome looks." He grinned at me.

I couldn't help but let out a snort. Of course, I did agree with him on the comment about his looks, but there was no way I would inflate his ego even more. "Right. You keep thinking that." He began to glare at me, which tempted me to grin cheekily at him. "For the record, I'm here because Klaus wanted me to check up on you to make sure you haven't gone on some massive killing spree."

He scowled. "I am not a child that needs to be monitored."

"Well, I had nothing else to do." I shrugged and walked passed him to sit on a couch.

"Unfortunately for you, darling, I happen to have plans." He walked to stand in front of me.

I raised an eyebrow. "Plans?"

"I happen to be meeting a young Jeremy Gilbert some time later this day. Before then I need to head out and feed, so I simply have no time for idle chit chat." He pulled me up and started to lead me towards the door.

I tilted my head. "Gilbert? Is he related to Elena?"

"He is her younger sibling." He looked as though he was becoming impatient.

Rolling my eyes, I lifted up the sleeve of my shirt on my arm and offered my wrist to him. "Here, so you'll have time for my questions that seem to annoy you so."

Without saying a word, Kol grabbed my arm, only to pull me towards him and remove my thin scarf. Without wasting any more time, he dove into my neck, and I felt the sharp pain of his fangs piercing me. It was a sensation I remembered from our time at the hotel, except he was a lot more rough.

Finally, he was done. While he was rougher, however, he did not take as much blood as before seeing as I wasn't as dizzy as before. Picking up my scarf, I wandered farther into the house to find some gauze before I lost anymore blood. When I did find it, Kol took it out of my hands and sat me back on the couch. He decided to patch me up himself. After he was done, we both relaxed.

I turned while I was putting my scarf back on until I was facing him. "So, tell me about this 'Jeremy Gilbert' person? And why are you even near him if he's Elena's little brother? Shouldn't he believe your family is the root of all evil or something?"

"He has no idea of who I am. The doppelganger apparently had one of her playthings compelled to come here and stay away from everything supernatural." He started to play with my hair.

I became confused. "Wait, then why are you even in contact with him? Don't tell me you wanted to make friends with him or something?"

Kol, while he didn't stop messing with my hair, scoffed."Of course not, darling. Dear old brother Klaus wants me to keep an eye on him for future plans to get people to do what he wants. How do you think he was able to convince Bonnie Bennett to unlink us all?"

I frowned when thinking about this. While I didn't exactly know Bonnie since we have only met once, I couldn't help but remember that we are family. That, and the fact that she hasn't been an ass to me unlike Damon and Stefan, made me not want her to be threatened like that.

Kol then stood up. "You might as well come along with me to meet up with him."

I stood up to follow him. "Where?"

"A small local restaurant that's nearby." My face lit up at the idea of food.

* * *

It took up only about ten minutes to walk until we saw a guy with dark brown hair and eyes and enough height for me to want to groan in frustration.

Kol called out to him. "Jeremy!"

"Hey, man" He turned to look at me. "Hi, I'm Jeremy."

I smiled at him. "Evangeline, but I prefer Eva."

"Nice to meet you. Uh, Kol didn't say you were coming, though, so sorry if I seem a little surprised." He glanced at Kol as he said this.

"It's alright. Kol didn't exactly know either. I decided to surprise him." I gave a version of the truth.

Kol decided to speak up. "You both do realize I'm right here, right?" I stuck my tongue out at him playfully.

"Well, I'm going to find us somewhere to sit while you two order." I turned to Kol with a grin. "Order for me, yeah?" When he nodded I started to walk away.

As I was walking, I heard Jeremy make a comment to Kol. "Your girlfriend seems cool so far." I slightly smirked in amusement.

I was able to find a small booth towards the back that would fit about four people right away. I sat down and waited for the two to finish up at sit down. To pass the time I took out my phone and started playing Pokemon. I was so immersed in the game, that I didn't even notice when they sat across from me moments later.

"You do realize that there is food in front of you, right?" I jumped violently and dropped my phone from fright.

I looked to me left to see Kol smirking and holding my phone. I heard Jeremy laughing across from us. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!"

Instead of answering, he just grinned like a smug asshole and gave me back my phone. I pouted as I took it from him. After putting it away, I finally paid attention to the food. My eyes lit up once I saw the curly cheese fries, boneless wings, and a drink.

I smiled cheekily up at Kol. "You're forgiven."

Jeremy chuckled. "So, how did you two meet." He put some fries in his mouth.

I turned to look at Kol and saw that he had shoved his whole mouth with fries. I had to hold in a laugh as I answered Jeremy. "We almost bumped into each other. We were at a party."

He looked between us. "Did you two hit it off right away then?"

"I guess you could say that." I chuckled before I started eating as well.

Kol's phone then goes off alerting him of a call. He looked to see it was, and I saw that it said 'Nik' on it.

He stood up. "I have to take this. I'll be right back."

He went to walk out of the small restaurant as he answered it. I couldn't help but notice he has a nice looking behind but quickly averted my eyes as I blushed when I realized what I was doing. My gaze had lingered on him for too long. I looked back at Jeremy.

He was smiling. "So, where are you from?"

"The great city of Chicago." I thought back to my time before I moved to Mystic Falls.

"Wow, how is it over there?" He leaned forward in interest.

I became almost lost in my memories. "It's amazing. I love going downtown every now and then. Oh, especially in the winter! There's an ice skating rink right by the Big Bean."

Jeremy grinned. "I've actually drew the Big Bean before, actually. It was for an art project."

This made my eyes snap back to his. "You're an artist?"

He nodded. "It's a bit of a hobby at the moment."

"Who knows, maybe one day you'll have works in museums everywhere." I couldn't help but grin at him. For Elena's brother, he wasn't like her at all. It was refreshing.

It was then that Kol returned. "Unfortunately, I have to go run an errand for my brother." He turned to me. "You don't mind staying with Jeremy, and I'll meet you both at the batting cages?"

"I don't mind." I tilted my head at look towards Jeremy for his answer in this.

It took him a few seconds to realize why we were staring at him. "It's fine with me."

Kol nodded and tried to shove as much food in his mouth as possible. After he threw the containers in the trash and came back for his things, he ruffled my hair and left. I couldn't help but glare at him as I tried to fix it. Turning towards Jeremy, I see that his food was gone, so I decided to finish mine. Thankfully he waited patiently without complaining. Once I was done, we cleaned up our mess and walked out.

* * *

Apparently Kol and Jeremy had plans at the batting cages, so that's where Jeremy and me were waiting for Kol to finish whatever her had to do. I had went back to playing Pokemon on my phone. Eventually Jeremy started to look over my shoulder and suggest things to me as I played. After a while, I eventually grew bored of playing and decided to let Jeremy have a turn. I decided to look around for other means of entertainment instead.

I happened to see a vending machine in the distance and decided to buy a snack for later. "Hey, I'll be back. I kind of want a quick snack."

Jeremy was looking at the bats as he responded. "Alright."

The vending machine wasn't too close to where we were, but I figured it didn't matter since we were just waiting and doing nothing anyway. When I got to it, I saw that almost half of the snacks were gone. Luckily, they had a few Reese's Cup, so I bought three of them. One was for myself, and I decided to be nice and get two more for Kol and Jeremy. Satisfied, I placed to snack in my sweater pocket and started walking back. As I was walking I was struggling to get the change and rest of my money into my wallet, however. I may have almost tripped a few times as well. As I got closer, I ended up hearing voices.

"Jer." From the sound of it, a female had joined us, but I couldn't place the familiarity of the voice.

Next I heard Jeremy. "Hey, what did you get?"

As I was about to answer him, I heard the same voice yell out. "Damon, it's Eva!"

Hearing the name, I quickly glanced up to see Elena next to Jeremy. Before I could do anything else, Damon pushed me into a cage with his hand squeezing my throat. I immediately began to claw at his arm.

"What are you doing?!" Jeremy yelled out.

Elena turned to him. "Jeremy, she works for Klaus!"

"What?"

Black dots began to appear in my vision as Damon's hand continued to block my airways. Before I could pass out, I decided to try my chances at a normal male's weakness and hope it worked against vampires as well. I kicked him as hard as I could between his legs.

Immediately, he fell to his knees, and I was let go. I fell to the ground coughing as I sucked in as much air as I could. I wasn't able to focus on anything else that was happening around me for a few minutes. By the time I began to calm down, Damon was already beginning to rise, so I frantically pulled out my vervain filled water gun and squirted him in the eyes.

As I stood up, I saw Elena trying to run towards me, but Kol made an appearance by shoving her back. Of course, Damon couldn't have this. Once he recovered again, he tried to attack Kol, but was hit with a wooden bat Kol had in his hands.

Kol grabbed an aluminum bat from the bat rack in replace for the broken wooden one. "You know, I'll never get use to aluminum. But hey, at least it won't break."

As he was about to hit him, Damon quickly picked up half of the broken wooden bat and stabbed him through the chest. As Kol fell to the ground, I instinctively let out a squeak and try to go towards his body to pull it out, only to be stabbed through my stomach myself. I stumbled, then fell to the floor face first.

Though I couldn't see him, I heard Jeremy yell. "Did you kill them?!"

"Her, maybe. Him, no, but it'll give us a head start. Okay, come on." After Damon spoke, it didn't take long for the world to go black.

* * *

When I finally regained consciousness, I saw that it was night. It took me a few moments to gain my bearings. Once I did, however, I wished that I didn't. At the slightest movement I made, my abdomen began bursting in pain. My lips were open in a silent cry as I pressed my hand to my wound. Tears filled my vision due to both the pain and frustration at only being able to lie in the ground. That's when I had remembered Kol. My mind was cleared enough for me to finally think of looking for him. I saw him a few ways from me with the piece of wood still sticking out of him. Sucking in a deep breath and bracing myself, I began my attempt at moving towards him. Every movement I made me want to scream and cry, but I tried my hardest to ignore those instincts. FInally, and a few agonizing moments, I was close enough to where I was able to grasp the edge ot the wooden piece. I stilled as I took sharp breaths. Then, I used up the rest of my strength and pulled as hard as I could. It didn't work. I almost screamed in frustration. Tightening my grip on the piece, I decided to use a different tactic and use my leg to push against his body while I pushed away from him. This time, I was able to remove the piece, but I had to hold in a scream as the action forced me to turn onto my back. All I could do then was wait.

When Kol does finally awaken, I'm fighting to keep my eyes open. During my wait, I had felt my body go cold, then numb. I had lost way too much blood. Even with this trouble in staying awake, however, I could clearly see that Kol was beyond furious. I saw him speed towards a lone jogger nearby and kill them in rage after drinking their blood. Finally, his rage seemed to have diminished enough to where he stills himself. By this point, I was unable to keep my eyes open any longer. While I could no longer see what was happening, I did feel him kneel on the ground next to me. The next thing I know, Kol places his wrist to my mouth and blood trickles down my throat. After the wound was closed, my eyes fluttered open and I groaned.

"You left quite the mess." I looked at him confused as I sat up, but then followed the trail of his eyesight and saw my blood scattered everywhere. I was horrified as the fact that I had almost died hit me.

I was so entranced with the scene, that I almost didn't notice Kol pulling me up until I was standing. To clear my mind, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened my eyes pack up, I was able to spot my phone on the ground, so I bent over and grabbed it. Luckily it wasn't damaged. Turning to Kol, I saw that he seemed to be texting someone on his phone. After he was done, he grabbed me and sped away.

* * *

When we stopped, we were standing in front of an old abandoned-looking house.

Kol turned towards me. "Now, just stay out of the way and wait for me at the back of the house."

"I'll be fine to go with you. I have this." I held up my water gun which was running low on ammo.

He scoffed. "Right because that worked out so well last time."

His comment made me glare. "It actually did since it stopped Damon from choking me."

"Fine. Just wait outside until I have dealt with her." He sighed loudly, and I nodded with a smug smile.

To pass the time I decided to look around the neighborhood, wondering why it seemed so empty. Eventually, I realized I had already looked at everything. I got bored of looking around at this point, so I just decided to wait patiently.

Finally, I saw Kol come back out. "Come on in, darling."

As we walked in, I couldn't help but feel horrified at how cluttered everything was. The house was a mess! I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I didn't even bother to pay attention to Kol walking in front of me. It seems as though that everywhere I looked there was something occupying the space. Talk about extreme hoarding.

I silently followed him into a room before I froze. Impaled on the wall was a dead and greyed vampire, whom I assumed to be Mary as Kol was informing me on our way here. Though I knew he was going to kill her, I didn't expect for her to on display as she was. Both her decaying body and blood dripping onto the floor sickened me. Seeing as I hadn't seen many corpses in my life, especially one such as grotesque as this one, I couldn't help but feel physically ill.

I went to move away, or at least face somewhere else, Kol grabbed me from behind and held my head in place, forcing me to stay staring. I ignored the pain of his grip and squeezed my eyes shut. I also tried to struggle out of his grip, but he wouldn't budge. Tears rose behind my eyelids as I squeezed the arm that was wrapped around me.

"Don't look away. Then you'll never get used to it." He laughed lightly. "You'll have to when you're around my family as much as you are."

Partially because there was a part in me that knew he was right, and partially because I wanted to get this over with, I slowly reopened my eyes. A few tears that built up had escaped as I forced myself to try and relax. After what felt like hours, but was most likely only a few minutes, I began to feel less sick and almost completely relaxed. It also helped that Kol was extremely comfortable to lean against.

At that moment, we heard the door open. Kol quickly let go of me and went to sit behind the door on a chair. I bit my lip as I glanced around the room before deciding to just sit on the bed right next to him and turned the light off on my way there. As we waited in the dark, I could make out traces of voices that sounded like Elena's and Damon's, yet I could not understand what they were saying.

Eventually, Kol became impatient with waiting for them to make their way to us, so he knocked something to the ground to create a crash. I couldn't see what it was, but it sounded as though it was made of glass. Soon, the door was opened and Damon came into the room followed by Elena who is carrying a torch. As she moves it around the room, she catches a glimpse of Mary and settle is onto her body.

Damon was stunned. "Mary."

Kol chose then to turn the light back on. "Quite contrary." He then stood up and began to walk past them. "Shame about Mary, she used to be a blast. Don't quite know what happened. I fear all the time she spent with my family might have ruined her. She was a bit of an Original groupie."

"And were you her favorite?" Elena was being cautious with what she asked.

"You mean, did I turn her? I think I did. But no, wait, maybe it was Rebekah. There was also a Klaus period. And let's not forget the Elijah affair. I spoke to my brother, I know you're trying to find out who you descended from. Now you never will. So, where did we leave off?" Kol suddenly hit Damon with the baseball bat in his hands. Evan as Damon fell to the ground, Kol continued to hit him.

Damon was somehow able to yell through the pain. "Elena, get out of here!"

Elena did as he said and ran for the door, but decided to move in front of it. We weren't done with them yet exactly. I may have also smirked at her since I was having so much fun.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Kol walk towards us. "According to my brother, you're off limits. Please don't test me." Elena made a move to shove past me, so I shoved her to the ground.

Damon, being Damon, got up and rushed towards me in anger. "Don't touch her."

Kol came to my rescue by throwing Damon off of me. "Oh dear, we've hit a nerve. Relax, darling, I just want us to be even. You snapped my neck, you killed my brother, and then you humiliated me." He began to hit Damon with the bat repeatedly. "There, now we're even."

As Damon seemed to go unconscious, Kol grabbed me and speed us both away.

* * *

Kol walked passed me as we walked into his house and sat on an armchair. "You know, I'm curious how a tiny little thing like you became associated with my brother."

I glared at his back as I walked towards the couch. "I became friends with Rebekah. After she was daggered, he came back to Mystic Falls and killed your father. At the time I had no idea what happened to Rebekah, but Klaus ended up compelling me to try and find out where the coffins where you and your siblings were. The night you were undaggered was the night he took off the compulsion, actually."

"And just like that, you just help my brother?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I figured it was smarter to work with him, rather that against him" I shrugged. "Not to mention you and your siblings are too bad. Well, to me at least."

"You truly are an interesting one aren't you." He grinned at me as my cheeks started to heat up.

I pursed my lips. "You already said that, you know."

He just stared. "I know."

Suddenly, my phone chimed, signaling that I had a text. I looked and saw that it was from Rebekah. It was a reminder for the decade dance the next night. At the thought of it, I groaned and threw myself backwards on the couch to where I was laying on it.

Kol looked at me in amusement. "What seems to be the problem now?"

I lifted myself up until I was leaning back instead of laying down to be able to look at him. "Your sister demands that I am back at Mystic Falls for the 1920s decade dance tomorrow."

"And the problem is?" He looked confused now. Now, I wasn't going to tell him this, but it made him look adorably cute.

I pouted in dramatic despair. "It means that I have to be there early enough to get ready of course. It makes me exhausted just thinking about how it's going to take me forever to get ready."

Kol smirked in response and came over to me. "Then let's get your mind off of that shall we."

He went onto the couch on his knees and slowly began to leans over me until I was flat on my back. Well, at least it felt slow to me with the tension in the room rising. As he hovers over me, I distinctly notice one of his hands supporting himself to the right of my head, and his other on my left hip. Looking at him, I felt myself blushing, and I subconsciously licks my lips. Kol then pushed his lips against mine. It was almost at though the room had heated up. My desire had spiked from just his lips on mine. It as almost instinctual to kiss back. All thoughts flew from my mind as Kol's hands roamed my body. I gasp in pleasure as a hand found its way to my chest which opened the way for our tongues to intertwine. Fully in the moment, I started to roam my hands over his chest. I led one of my hands to rest on his arm, and the other hand in his hair to pull him closer to me. Breaking the kiss, Kol smirked at me and began leaving kisses down my neck until stopping at the base of it. Him sucking hard on that spot, along with the fact that he had wrapped one of my legs around him and grounded his hips to mine, caused me to moan out. I could feel him grin against my skin. He quickly started kissing me again.

Suddenly, the door flew open, startling me enough to pull away. Looking towards the doorway, I saw that it was Elijah. My face began to burn with embarrassment at being caught like this.

"I should go." I stand from the couch and gather my things without looking at either of them.

"Perhaps you should escort Miss Evangeline out, Kol?" Elijah sounded amused.

I looked to see that Kol was glaring at Elijah with what seemed to be annoyance. I wasn't sure if it was from interrupting, or his suggestion. To my surprise, Kol does as he says, however. He came up to me and started to lead me towards the door with his hand resting on my lower back. Once we got outside, he took his hand off and walked next to me. We were at my car in a matter of seconds.

I thought for a moment and turned to face him. "You know what, I'm expecting you at the dance as well."

Kol leaned down until his face was near mine. "What just happened doesn't mean we are dating, darling. You won't be seeing me there."

I rolled my eyes at him. "If I am going to be tortured by Rebekah the whole night, then I am taking you down with me." With that, I got into my car, stuck my tongue out at him, then drove away.

* * *

It was the night of the dance, and I was off to the side and looking for Rebekah. I hadn't seen her the whole day. Even when I woke up, all I saw was a simply beautiful flapper styled dress already set up for me to wear with a matching headband and pair of shoes. Of course, she happened to slip in some fancy black silk gloves as well. The dress was a shiny emerald green and had a thin black and emerald lace headband. It was paired with simple black pumps. Without Rebekah to help me like we had planned, I had to bring up a YouTube tutorial video on how to do my hair. Luckily, it turned out perfectly.

While looking around the room again, I saw Kol walk towards me in a suit and slicked hair.

I glanced back at the dance floor. "I thought you said you wouldn't come?"

"Shut it." I smirked up at him.

"Well, since you're here: we're dancing." I turned to him, grabbed his hand, and started dragging him to where everyone else were.

My mind went back to Rebekah as we danced. "Have you seen Rebekah anywhere, by the way? She's the one who was looking forwards to this like crazy, but I haven't seen her anywhere."

Kol looked around. "There are many people here. She's probably somewhere you can't see. She'll find you eventually."

"I guess you're right." I couldn't help but still frown.

He smirked of course. "I know I am."

I then bit my lip and decided to ask a question that I've been dying to ask. "I'm curious, what was it like living through the different time periods?"

He started to look slightly bitter. "Quite confusing considering the plentiful amount of times Klaus decided to leave me daggered in a box."

I was shocked. "How many times did he dagger you?!"

"Too many to keep track of." He frown as he looked away from me.

"That's horrible." I frowned and shook my head slightly. "What about when you weren't a vampire?"

Kol looked back towards me. "What about it?"

I tilted my head. "What was it like?"

"I lived in a village surrounded by werewolves. Every full moon we had to hide away from them in fear of being killed. The rest of the times were filled with hunting and surviving. Of course there was also the magic." He grinned.

I looked up at him confused. "Magic?"

"I was the first of my sibling to tap into it. A bit of a child prodigy if you will." He smirked and paused in order to spin me. "I loved it. There was a certain rush and excitement in it. But then it was all gone when I became a vampire. I went through a bit of a dark period. I ended up spending my time with witches sometime after. Traveling with them and learning all about magic that I could."

I paused as I stared at him. "You miss it."

"Yes, though I prefer who I am now, to who I was then." There was something in his eyes I couldn't identify as he said this.

"Kol, if I were a witch, would you help me?" I bit my lip.

There was a long pause. I almost thought my question wouldn't be answered, until I heard him speak. "Of course."

* * *

After a few more dances, I decided that I needed a break since my feet began to hurt from the heels. While we weren't able to find seats, I decided that leaning against Kol was good enough. It was then that I caught a glimpse of Stefan heading towards one of the exits suspiciously.

"What is he up to." I mumble to myself.

"Who?" I glanced up at Kol.

"Stefan. He looks awfully suspicious." I bit my lip as my curiosity grew. "I'm too curious for my own good, I swear."

"Well then, let's follow him." Kol began to pull me along with him.

He walks up behind Klaus who's standing in front of some salt line. What he said shocked me. "Your mother is back."

I interrupted them and stepped forward making them turn toward our direction. "Wait, what?"

Klaus seem surprised to see Kol. "Ah, Eva. Don't you look stunning. Fancy seeing you here Kol."

Stefan didn't look happy. "Seriously, Eva, you're with Kol?"

"Says the one with the brother that almost killed me." I snapped back at him.

Based on his shocked expression, I could see that Elena, Jeremy, and Damon must have left that piece of information out. "What?"

Klaus ignored him. "It seems that Mother dearest has returned from the dead and trapped us all in the school."

"She also has Elena." Stefan of course had to mention her. "Everyone is meeting in a classroom, come on."

I looked at Kol who shrugged, and we began to follow along with Klaus. Once we got inside, I saw Bonnie chanting some spell with Damon, Jeremy, and some other guy standing idly around her. Jeremy looked surprised to see us. I couldn't stop myself from glaring at Damon.

"Uh, hi. I'm Jessie." The other guy that was standing near them spoke to us as we entered.

I figured he must be new considering how polite he's being, so I smiled at him. "Eva."

I was the only one who bothered replying. Several moments of silence, save for Bonnie's chanting, followed after.

Jamie decided to speak up. "She does this all the time, right?" He sounded nervous.

No one answered him. Instead, Klaus decided to speak in anger. "What's taking so long?! All boundary spells have a loop hole."

Suddenly Matt entered the classroom. "People are walking right out of the dance, past the barrier."

"Matt and I can leave, we can stop Esther ourselves. We just gotta find out where she is." Jeremy's idea wasn't actually too bad.

Of course, Stefan didn't think so. "It's suicide, Jeremy."

I scoffed. "As if we have any other plans." I looked towards Matt and Jeremy. "I'm going with."

Kol decided to speak up at that moment. "And what is a tiny little thing like you going to do?" I turned to glare at him.

"He does have a point." Stefan was chuckling.

I looked at both of them. "Keep it up, and I'll stab you both."

Suddenly, Klaus grabbed Jamie by the throat and started to strangle him. "Suicide would be disappointing me! Now work your magic, witch, or I'll start killing people you fancy."

Bonnie screamed. "Let him go!"

"Not until you get us out of here." Klaus was becoming more angry as time went by.

Stefan decided to interfere. "Ah, don't be stupid, Klaus. Bonnie doesn't give a damn about us. The only reason she's helping us right now is to save Caroline and Tyler. You start killing the people she cares about, she'll tell us all to go to hell." Luckily, Klaus listened and let go of Jamie.

The tensions within the classroom were getting thicker with each passing moment. I huffed in annoyance and decided to go back to the dance for now, but not before telling them to come and get me when things get started.

Once I got back, I headed straight towards the drinks. Once there I quickly poured myself a cupfull.

"There's alcohol in that, you know." I heard Kol walk up next to me.

"Good." I glanced at him and started to drink it.

* * *

As we were positioned outside of the Salvatore tomb, I decided to snap a particularly large branch by stepping on it to speed things up. When Esther walked out, Matt and I were pointing guns at her, while Jeremy had a crossbow.

Matt yelled at her. "Don't move!"

"Where's Elena?" I rolled my eyes at Jeremy's question.

Elena came outside and yelled. "Jeremy!"

Jeremey kept focus on Esther. "Let her go."

"How foolish of you, to risk your lives in defense of those who will kill you. Especially you, Eva. But if that is your choice." Esther did something witchy, and somehow Jeremy, Matt, and I turned our weapons on each other. Mine was pointed at Matt, Matt's at Jeremy, and Jeremy's at me.

Jeremy turned frantic. "Matt! Eva, drop your gun!"

I snapped at him in annoyance. "I can't! I'm not controlling it!"

"Esther stop it!" Elena yelled.

I closed my eyes for a short moment in annoyance of Elena. The next thing I see is Esther falling over dead with Mr. Saltzman behind her with a knife. "Oh my god. Where's my ring? Tell me what happened."

With that over with, I stopped paying attention to them and began looking at the gun that was given me. With a glance to see if anyone was looking, I decided to keep it and put it into my bag. I then started walking away.

"Stealing? How scandalous." I jumped as Kol appeared before me.

I glared at him as I held my hand to my chest as though to will my heart to calm down. "It's not like they don't have plenty more. Plus, it might work better than my simple vervain filled water gun."

All I received was a smirk before I was quickly grabbed. The next thing I knew, we were back at the school. I had gotten used to Kol doing this without my permission, so I didn't even bother to glare at him anymore, I was grateful even since I didn't want to have to walk back in the heels I was wearing. Instead, I started to walk towards my car.

Once there, I turned to him. Before I could say anything, Kol pushed me against my car and began to kiss me. I quickly responded by pulling him closer with one hand in his hair and my other clinging to his shirt. After what felt like a few minutes, I pulled away in my need for air as I was quite literally breathless. Stepping away from me, Kol smirked at my state, winked, then sped away.


	13. Chapter 13

I was in my room listening to music play from my speaker while on my laptop when I think back to what happened with my mother. I still couldn't understand what she was, or why she did what she did. The possibility of her being a witch crossed my mind, but her magic was different that what I have seen so far. Just as I thought this, I remembered Kol mentioning he was a witch before, not to mention he was about a thousand years old. He would have to know something. I brought out my phone and decided to ask Klaus for his number, when I saw his name already in my contacts labeled, ' _Kol ;p'_.

He picked up on the second ring. "Miss me already?"

I rolled my eyes playfully. "I would say yes, but then I would be lying." I paused in thought. "By the way, how when did you even put your number in my phone?"

"Ouch. And in Washington when you were asleep of course." He chuckled. "Something you needed then, darling?"

I bit my lip. "Can you come over? If you're still in town that is."

Suddenly, I heard a knock on the front door downstairs. I quickly went downstairs and opened it to see Kol.

"Already here." He smirked and hung up.

I was a bit surprised, though mainly suspicious, at how he was here as fast as he was. Either way, I still move out of the way of the doorway so he could walk in.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "You do remember that I'm a vampire who needs to be invited in, right?"

"Oh!" I felt my cheeks warm up in embarrassment. "Right, uh, come in, Kol."

He chuckled in amusement and walked in.

Ignoring my embarrassment, I started to lead him towards my room. Once we got there, he sat down on the bottom edge of my bed and made himself comfortable.

"Now what is it you needed me for?" He picked up a decorative pillow and started spinning it.

I sat down on the middle of my bed. "Apparently, my mother isn't human since she tried to do something to me with magic, but it didn't exactly seem like magic. I'm curious as to what she is, and what she did to me."

"So you called me?" He stopped the pillow and looked at me in amusement.

I grinned. "Well, you happen to be a walking witchipedia pretty much, so I figured: why not?"

He threw the pillow at me, which made me laugh. "Just tell me what happened."

"Well, she definitely knew your family. Then, she said something about having to keep me safe and started mumbling in some language, which I found might be Czech after I looked some things up. It was like as though I was injected with a tranquilizer or something. Somehow, I think I may have did something to her to where she fell in pain. When that happened, the spell's effects went away."

He scoffed. "You seem to have the misfortune of having a traveller as a mother."

"What the hell is a traveller?" I started picking at the pillow.

"A traveller is a subculture of witches that were cursed years ago due to the actions of two witches about 2000 years ago. The two witches, Silas and Qetsiyah, created the Immortality Spell, which is a known imbalance of nature." He picked up my phone and began to look through it. "They are known to be highly jealous and hateful towards witches since they're the ones who cursed them."

"What was the curse?"

"They're prevented from settling in once place for too long or using traditional magic."

"That seems harsh. To punish a whole race for the actions of only two."

Music suddenly started to play from my phone, but he quickly turned it off. "All of this seems to confirm you being a witch, darling. It would explain what you did to her and how you were able to overpower her. Just admit that I'm right."

"Oh shut it." I threw the pillow at back at him and laid down.

Kol looked at me with a smirk and the next thing I know, he's on top of me. With a grin, I pull him closer and placed my lips upon his. It was as though a barrier has been broken between us from the day before with how fervent our kisses became in comparison. Things quickly became heated once out tongues began to intertwine. Eventually, he pulled us both up and swiftly removed my shirt, then shoved me down for a deep kiss. As he moved to pulled away again, I caught his bottom lip with my teeth and gently pulled on it. Afterwards, he began to kiss downwards, going in between my breast and towards my stomach while I felt his hand trail up my thigh. Suddenly, his phone began to ring.

Cursing whoever was calling him in my mind as he lifted his head to look towards his phone, I groaned. "Just ignore it."

He grinned at me in response and began kissing me again. Without breaking the kiss, I flipped us over until I was the on top of him. His phone stops ringing as this happens. Kol then sits up to where I'm straddling him and pulls of his shirt. Biting my lip as I take in the view, I began to trail kisses down his neck and drag my nails down his chest and abs. Unfortunately, his phone began to ring again. Fortunately, however, he pulls me back up to kiss me again and ignored it. This time, it's him who kisses down my neck. At the same time, he roughly grabbed my hips and pulled me closed to him, making me grind against him. I tried to hold in my gasp by biting my lip, but only succeeded in causing it to bleed. Finally, the phone stopped ringing again. I couldn't dwell much on it much as his mouth moved lower until it was on my breasts.

One of his arms pulled me even closer, and the other moves towards the back of my bra. As he goes to unhook it, his phone began to ring again. Kol groaned in frustration and pulled away to grab his phone. I couldn't help but pout as I moved to get off of him, but he stops me which caused her to grind hard against him. I had to bite her lip in order to keep myself from making a noise since he finally answered his phone.

From being so close to Kol when he answered it, I could hear Klaus' voice from the other end. Kol mentioned that he happened to be a bit preoccupied at the moment. As he spoke to Klaus, I absentmindedly ran my nails on his skin in random motions. Eventually, Kol grabbed my hand to stop me, which made me look up at him. He seemed to be a bit annoyed at whatever he was being told.

Kol hung up with a scowl which led me to believe that Klaus just became the worst cockblock ever. He looked down at me and ran his hands down my sides. "Nik demands to speak with me immediately. I would normally ignore him, but it's apparently extremely urgent."

He lifted me slightly in order to get me off of him which caused me to pout again slightly. As soon as he put back on his shirt, I pulled him back towards me for one last kiss. As I reached behind my to grab my own shirt, he smirked at me. Raising an eyebrow at him, I put it back on.

Almost right after, he left. After cleaning up my room a bit, I decided to leave as well. I remembered the dance and how Rebekah was still cleaning, so I headed for the school.

* * *

Apparently, heading to the school was not the best thing to do at the moment. I was currently tied down to a chair with a now vampire Mr. Saltzman. Not to mention, it seems as though he lost his mind. Next to me was Caroline, who was staked down to the desk with pencils in her hands. She also had a cloth tied around her mouth like I did, except hers had been soaked in vervain.

Suddenly, he picked up his phone and called someone. As a few moments, I heard Elena's voice on the other end.

Whatever she said had him reply with,"Well, who else would it be?" After another short pause, he spoke again. "Listen closely, I'm at the school, I have Caroline and the other girl, Eva, as well, and if you want to keep them alive, I need you to get in your car and come down here right away. If you tell anyone where you are going, I will kill them."

He hung up without leaving Elena any time to reply. He then turned to look at both Caroline and me. Smirking, he took the cloth off of Caroline's mouth and dipped it into a beaker filled with liquid that I assumed have vervain. Caroline started to struggle and screech in pain as her retied it around her mouth. This made me cringe in horror at what was happening.

Thankfully, Mr. Saltzman didn't do anything else after that. He only sat at his desk and began to watch us. As he did this, I thought about what I had did to my mom and wished I could do it now. Unfortunately, whatever curse was placed upon seem to effectively hold back whatever it was unless during a situation such as before it seems. Luckily for both Caroline, Mr. Saltzman did not move for quite some time.

Suddenly, he spoke up. "Right on time."

Not too long after, Elena burst through the door. "Caroline." She turned and saw me as well, then turned to Mr. Saltzman."Let them go, Alaric!"

He motioned towards us. "Free them yourself."

Elena and Mr. Saltzman stared at each other intently. Then, Elena cautiously walked over to Caroline and kneeled before her. She stroked Caroline's arm soothingly to calm her down since she was in hysterics. As she starts to gently pull one of the pencils out of one of Caroline's hands, Mr. Saltzman went up to her and slammed the pencil back down into her hand. Caroline screamed piercingly, which caused me to flinch.

Elena turned to face him. "You said that you would let her go!"

He patronized her. "How many times do I have to tell you, Elena? Stop trusting vampires!"

He then dipped the cloth that was in Caroline's mouth into the beaker of vervain again. I looked at her to see that the skin around her mouth was very red and appeared to have peeled away.

Caroline started pleading as Mr. Saltzman walked back to her. "No, no more, please, no more!"

Elena had enough and got up. "Alaric stop!"

He only pushed her back into her seat. "Sit down! This keeps the vervain in her system. It's like inhaling razorblades with every breath."

He put the cloth back in Caroline's mouth , and her skin began to smoke and burn. Tears ran down her face as she screamed in pain.

Elena touched her arm gently. "Why are you doing this?"

"To make it easier on you when you put her out of her misery."Mr. Saltman picked up the white oak stake and walks towards Elena.

Elena was appalled. "What?! No!"

"Isn't this what you wanted, Elena? For me to teach you how to kill a vampire?" He held the stake out towards her."Well, here's a vampire, Elena. Kill her."

She shook her head. "This isn't what I want."

"Of course it is. All those hours you spent training, getting stronger, you could be a hunter, Elena. But you've never actually staked a vampire through the heart."He persistently held out the stake while Elena stared at it.

As they were talking, I was trying my hardest to attempt to untie the ropes that were holding me to the chair. Unfortunately, not only was it tied too tight for me to do much, the knots were tied almost expertly. I stopped, however, when I felt my skin had begun to turn raw.

When Elena made no move to take the stake from Mr. Saltzman, he began to pace in front of us.

Elena finally broke silence. "Why are you doing this?"

He paused in front of her. "Because you need me. Because you're an 18 year old girl without parents or guidance or any sense of right and wrong anymore."

"Look at you. How is this right?!" She motioned towards us.

He pointed towards Caroline with the stake. "She's a murderer. She told me she killed someone and liked it. Now how is that right?" He then moved it towards me. "This one, she's related to the to vampires you can't help but let go. Not to mention, she's probably screwing one of the Originals, which is foolish in itself. Listen, Elena, your parents led the council. It was their life's mission to keep this town safe. They weren't dead six months before you undid it all."

Elena glared at him. "You don't know anything about them."

"Why, am I wrong? Do you actually think that they'd be proud of you?"He kneeled down in front of her."If you don't side with the humans, you're just as bad as them. Now kill her."He held out the stake to her again."Or I'll do it for you, and I'll make it hurt. Get up!"

He grabbed Elena's arm and pulled her out of her seat. He then placed her in front of Caroline and forced the stake into her hand. When he pulled away, Elena stood there with the stake in her hand for a moment, then turned around and tried to stab him instead.

He grabbed her before she could. "I thought I taught you better than that."

"You did." Elena broke the beaker filled with vervain over Mr. Saltzman's head.

Suddenly, he screamed in pain and his flesh started to burn. Elena quickly released Caroline and me.

She urged us to leave. "Get help!"

Caroline rushes out of the room, and Elena and I were right behind her.

While Caroline managed to get out, we were stopped from leaving as Mr. Saltzman rushed in front of us. "Not so fast."

He threw Elena into a locker and grabbed her by the throat as he held her up against it. I couldn't stop the scream that escaped my throat. I tried to run away, but he grabbed me as well.

He was practically growling. "I should kill you, the both of you. I should gut you like Brian Walters, Bill Forbes, and all the other cowards I plan on ripping apart. You two are the worst offenders of them all. You don't deserve to live."

"So then, why am I still alive? There's obviously no humanity left in you, so what's stopping you, Alaric? If you want me dead then kill me." Mr. Saltzman's eyes started to become red and veiny as Elena said this. "Do it! Kill me!"

To my shock and confusion, his eyes became normal again, and he released us. Suddenly, Stefan and Damon rushed up to him from behind and grabbed him by his arms.

"Do it now!" I couldn't help but watch to see what they had planned.

Mr. Saltzman was able to push them off of him almost immediately. When he did, he broke Stefan's back, and he fell to the ground, temporarily dead. Damon rushed towards Mr. Saltzman, but his neck was snap, leaving him down for the count as well. Out of nowhere, Klaus rushed towards him and places his hand into Mr. Saltzman chest. I was in disbelief, however, when he pulled Klaus' hand out of his chest and threw him to the ground.

My shock grew even more when Mr. Saltzman grabbed Klaus and pushed him against the lockers in the hallway. He flipped him over and was about to stake him with the white oak stake, but Klaus struggled to keep it away as it was pushed towards his chest.

Elena yelled at them. "Stop!" Everyone looks at her to see her holding a knife against her throat. "Let him go, or I'll kill myself."

Mr. Saltzman did as she said. "Put it down, Elena."

"Why? Because you still need me alive? There's a reason why Esther used me to make you, isn't there? She didn't want you to be immortal, so she tied your life to a human one. Mine. That way you have only one life span to kill all vampires and then you'll be gone. So, when I die, you die too. That's it, it has to be!" I looked at Elena with a newfound respect with how she was able to figure it out, and how she was handling the situation at hand.

"You're wrong." Mr. Saltzman denied her claim.

"Am I?" She began to cut her throat open.

"Stop! STOP! STOP! STOP!" He became highly panicked, which made everyone realized she was right.

During this moment, Klaus took the opening and threw Mr. Saltzman off of him. After, he quickly rushed towards Elena, grabbed her, and left. Mr. Saltzman got up right after and realized that they were both gone. I cursed myself in my mind for being to frightened to move and run during that time. When he turned towards me, I squeaked in fear while backing up. To my surprise and relief, he tells her to leave. Without stopping to think, I did so quickly.

* * *

I cautiously went back to my house and saw that my mother wasn't home, luckily. As I stood in the silence near the doorway, I felt myself shake with nerves. I was terrified. Unlike before, I had no way to get out of the school alive. Had it not been for Caroline being there with me, or the fact that Mr. Saltzman was trying to lure Elena, I would have died. It was different from the other times because _no one knew I was there_.

The more I thought of this, the more I became frazzled. I was close to having a panic attack. Making a split decision, I sped to the kitchen and grabbed an unopened bottle of vodka from one of the cabinets. I wanted to drown myself to forget. I realized my mother could be back at any minute, though, so I took the bottle and went into my car. After aimlessly driving around town, I somehow ended up at the cemetery.

I stopped the car as I got there and began to drink in my car. After a few minutes, I made the rash decision of getting out and walking through the cemetery. I didn't know what I was looking for as I walked while drinking, but once I found a stone that read _Ethan Salvatore_ , I stopped. I had never thought about the fact that her would be here, despite knowing that he was at it, I decided to just stay and lean against it. Continuing to drink, I felt my eyes sting and my throat close. I couldn't stop the tears from rushing down my face. I slowly slid down the headstone as I become more emotional and drank more frequently. I knew why I was crying, but at the same time, I didn't. I was confused. I was almost killed, thrice in one week, two out of those three times are people that are supposed to be family, though Damon made it clear he didn't care, and I'm bombarded with more questions than answers despite finding about about the rest of my family.

I looked at the bottle to see how much I had drank, believing my thoughts to have been from the liquor, and saw that it was about halfway. For some odd reason, I was immediately filled with a burning rage. I quickly stood back on my feet and threw the bottle as hard as I could. My vision began to swim at the fast movement, and I vaguely heard a crash in the distance, but as I moved to sit back down, I stumbled and blacked out.


	14. Chapter 14

I woke up to what might have been the most excruciating headache I had ever experienced. Snuggling my face into the pillow I was laying on, I froze. I remembered passing out near Ethan Salvatore's headstone, so I was confused to where I was now.

Creaking my eyes open to check happened to be a horrible mistake. My eyes felt as though they were trying to pop out of my head, and the light that shone through a window felt like knives piercing them. In pain, I made a whining noise and turned over. As I slowly creaked my eyes open, I saw that it wasn't too bright. I blinked a few times to get them as moist as possible. Finally, I began to look around the room and recognized it as Stefan's. I sat up in confusion, and when I looked towards the door, I saw him leaning against it.

Seeing that I was awake, Stefan spoke up. "I found you at the cemetery, so I brought you here."

"Thank you." I cringed a bit with how dry my mouth felt.

"There's water on the table besides you. Some pills for your headache too." Stefan nodded towards the table on my left, then hesitatingly stepped closer. "Listen, I know I've been a giant ass to you since you've known me so far, but I do care for you. I watched over you over the years to make sure you were safe. I am sorry for everything, though."

I quickly drank the water with the pills. "Why were you so determined to keep me safe?"

He sighed. "Because you're family. Not to mention, I made a promise to your father."

I paused as I bit my lip in thought. Finally, I blurted out, "What were they like? My parents, I mean."

"Your mother was one of the most stubborn woman I have met. Not too far off from you, actually. You look like her, except the hair. She was also kind and trusting as well. Your father, however, was a sarcastic little shit. He was always the joker and was always getting himself into trouble. Of course, you seem to have those traits as well considering all of the vampires you've surrounded yourself by." He had a small smile on his face and seemed to be off in thought.

"Do you have any pictures of them together? The only picture I have is of my father and Zach." I looked at him with hope.

"Wait one moment."He quickly left the room.

When he came back, he had a photo album in his hands. "Your mom never finished it, but she was putting this together while she was pregnant with you."

I take the photo album as he offers is to me, and trace my hands over the cover. Glancing through the contents, I saw that it was almost like a timeline. It started with a picture that was labeled 'First Date!'. I stared at my mom to soak her appearance in. She had coppery looking curls and light brown eyes that were identical to mine. Smiling, I turned the pages and saw that the album went on for a few more milestones until I stopped at a picture that was labeled 'Wedding Day!'. They looked so happy. I went on to see more pictures, laughing at a few of them even, when I saw that the album stopped with a picture of an ultrasound indicating my gender labeled 'Our beloved Evangeline 3'.

After closing the album, I remembered what I found on my father's mother. I looked up and saw Stefan was still in the room, luckily. "Hey, uh, was my dad, well… was my dad human?"

He walked over to me and sat beside me. "Why do you ask that?"

"Well, Kol and I were looking through documents on everything, but we couldn't find anything on his mother except for her name." I moved myself, so I facing him.

"Ethan's mother was different from Zach's, and he didn't really talk about her too often, so I can't exactly say. There was talk about her being delusional, however."He furrowed his eyebrows in thought."What else did you find?"

"Well I found out that Bonnie is my second cousin from my mother's side. Her father was Anthony Bennett, who was Sheila Bennett's brother. From what I understand, Sheila was Bonnie's grandmother. Also, my mother's mother is from an old witch family from New Orleans as well." I smiled at the thought of having more family members than only Stefan and Damon.

He began to look constipated with confusion. "So, you're a witch then? But you were able to be compelled."

I shrugged. "Kol seems to think it's a possibility, but something about it seems wrong. Also, Esther actually mentioned something about a curse placed on me that had a side effect of me being able to be compelled."

With that, Stefan got up and started to walk away."I'll try to help you in any way that I can. I promise. Although, I do need to leave now." He paused in the doorway and turns around before he's fully out the door, though. "You can stay for as long as you need to, by the way. Feel free to use the shower too. I bought some fresh clothes for you that should be in there. Elena picked them out."

"Alright. Thank you again, Stefan." I gave him a small smile.

With a nod, he left the room, closing the door behind him. After he left, I walked into the bathroom and saw a pile of neatly folded clothes laying on the toilet seat. I saw that it was a simple pair of skinny jeans and v-neck shirt. Underneath it, I found a simple underwear set as well. Everything was my size, apparently.

I picked up the bra and stared incredulously at it. "Slightly awkward, but okay."

Placing it back down, I turn on the water to let it heat up. Taking off my shirt, I did a double take as I glanced towards the mirror. To my horror, and possible future embarrassment, I saw multiple marks of large bruise-like hickies scattered on my chest. I thought back to the day before and remembered Kol's smirk. Groaning in slight annoyance, I stepped into the shower.

Once I got out and was dressed, I looked back into the mirror to see that the shirt completely showed the marks on my chest. I quickly dried my hair before putting on my jacket from the bed and zipping it up to cover my chest. As I waited for my hair to fully dry, I decided to call Rebekah.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Rebekah's voice was shrill as she answered.

"Well, I was a little busy being kidnapped by my history teacher who is now some psychopathic vampire who hates vampires." I pursed my lips. "Unless you're talking about after I was let go, then I ended up passed out drunk at the cemetery where Stefan found me."

There was a short silence before she spoke again. "Nik didn't tell me that Alaric had you."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, well he probably assumed I was killed after he grabbed Elena and whisked her away."

"I would yell at Nik for that, but he's currently desiccated and in the hands of Damon Salvatore." She sounded angry.

I was both confused and shocked. "Uhh, what the hell did I miss?"

"The Bennett wench was supposed to desiccate the history teacher. Instead she dessicated Nik. Damon, being Damon, decided to kidnap my brother to use as leverage to get my family to leave town." She paused. "Elijah has agreed to their terms. Once we have the body, we have to leave."

"Wait, but you can't leave! This is your home as much as it is theirs!" I became angry.

Rebekah sighed. "Unfortunately, there's not much we can do with Nik desiccated and a modified original vampire chasing us with an indestructible white oak stake. We have no way to kill him."

I bit my lip before I remembered what Elena figured out at the school. "That's it!"

"What?" Rebekah sounded confused.

"Elena!" I began pacing. "Mr. Saltzman's life is tied to Elena's!"

"We can't just kill the bloody doppleganger Eva." She huffed out.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not saying to full on kill her. I mean, there must be some spell to make sure she comes back, right? Or you could just change her into a vampire."

"That's… not a bad idea." She paused. "I'm going to bring it up with Elijah. I'll tell you what is decided later."

"Okay, bye." After I hung up the phone, I gathered my things and left.

* * *

As soon as I walked into my house, I knew something was wrong. It's as though I could feel it in the air. I understood why once I walked into the living room and saw my mother standing near the windows.

She crossed her arms and glared at me. "Where have you been?"

I tensed. "Why does it matter to you? You tried to kill me!"

"I didn't try to kill you!" She took a step towards me, which made me step back.

I scoffed at that."Right, because that's _so_ believable when you used magic on me that made me feel as though I was having a drug overdose."

Her fist came down on the table next to her."Damn it, Eva, I was trying to protect you!"

"Protect me? How the hell is attacking me, protecting me?!" I walked closer to her in anger.

"I was trying to get you away from vampires! Being around them will get you killed. You are the last of your kind, Evangeline! You would have been better off not remembering this idiotic move anyway." It sounded almost as though she was pleading with me.

"You're not the one who gets to make those decisions! I chose to befriend vampires, and my memories are not yours to erase!" I was practically yelling now, but then I paused. "Wait, what do you mean by the last of my kind?"

She gently placed her hands on the sides of my face."I'll tell you what: leave Mystic Falls with me, and I'll tell you everything. No vampires, no werewolves, no witches, no hybrids, and certainly no originals."

I thought about what she was offering me. I was torn. I wanted to know everything, but did I really want to leave everything, and everyone, behind? Thinking of Rebekah, and even Kol, I knew that I couldn't.

I stepped away from her. "No."

She became still. "... What?"

I moved back a bit more. "I'll find out everything on my own. I don't need you."

"I'm your mother. You have no choice. I just thought it would be easier with your cooperation." It almost sounded as though she pleading.

"You're not my mother. Mother's don't do things like this!" I felt like crying as I said this.

She picked up a glass vase and threw it to the ground between us, which caused me to slightly jump. "I raised you! I want what's best for you, and what's best for you was to forget everything. Now it just seems as though it's too late for you."

I felt a sense of dread. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Instead of answering, she raised her hands and began to chant. Almost as soon as she started, I felt an intense tightening in my chest which caused me to cry out in pain. Slowly, the pain became more and more intense as it traveled to the rest of my body. I fell to my knees and barely registered the pain of glass cutting into my skin or even the tears that freely ran down my cheeks. Looking up at up, I felt a surge of anger run through me as I saw no remorse or sorrow on her face. Then, all of a sudden, the pain stopped. All that was left was a dull ache and the feeling of a rush. A short second after, my mother began to gasp for breath. She stumbled backwards and used the table next to her as support. Still focusing on her, I stood up in growing anger. By the time I was standing, blood began to flow in streams out of her ears, eyes, and mouth. Finally, she dropped down to the ground.

I had no time to register what had just happened as the anger left me, for a burning pain began to spread throughout my body. Again, a scream escapes me. What feels like an eternity after, the pain intensifies as I feel something burst from my body in a ripping sensation, causing me to continuously scream louder and louder. As this happens, I fell to the ground again, only this time I fell fully. Shards of glass cut into the whole front side of my body, adding to the pain I was already experiencing. Finally, moments late, everything stops. All I'm left with is the stinging pain of the numerous cuts caused by the glass and the aches in all of my muscles. Lying still, I tried to comprehend all that has just happened.

With a jolt, I pushed myself into a seated position with a wince and took out my phone to call Rebekah as I began to panic.

Luckily, she answered pretty quickly. "Hello?"

Tears streamed down my face again. "Rebekah, I don't know what happened! Oh my gosh, she just started bleeding, and then there was all this pain. And now she's dead, and I have no idea what I'm going to do!"

She yelled to grab my attention. "Evangeline! Calm down. Where are you?"

"At my house." I looked at my mother's body that was in front of me.

"Okay, now, tell me what happened. Don't leave anything out."

"My mother was here when I got here. We got into an argument, then she started doing something to me. Some type of spell. It felt like she was tearing my insides up. Then something in me just snapped or clicked, or something. That's when blood just started pouring out of her from everywhere: her mouth, her ears, her eyes. She ended up dying. Then after everything stopped, there was this intense pain. It felt like I was being electrocuted or something. It just barely stopped when I called you. Rebekah, I don't know what to do." I ran my hand through my hair in distress.

Rebekah muttered something softly before speaking up. "Stay right where you are, okay? I'm going to come over."

"Okay, okay." Right after I said this, she hung up.

* * *

I sat in the same spot while staring at the body and began to cry silently. After a few moments, Rebekah arrived with Kol.

She kneeled in front of me. "How the hell did this happen, again?"

I moved my gaze towards her when she placed her hand on my cheek. "She was trying to kill me."

"Why?" I jumped slightly when I heard Kol speak from beside me, not noticing that he had moved.

I bit my lip."She said that I was beyond saving. I was too intertwined with vampires."

"So, how did things end up like this?" He motioned to the body, which caused me to look at it again.

I looked towards Kol. "Something inside me just… snapped. There was this rush of energy that I couldn't control. I was angry and desperate, so it killed her. Then, after that, all I felt was this burning pain."

"It must have been the curse my mother mentioned. It must have kept whatever you are at bay and made you appear as human as possible. Your emotions, your power, must have shattered it from the inside." He picked me up as he was talking and placed me on a couch.

Rebekah spoke up. "How do we know for sure?"

My eyes widened as a thought came to me. "Try to compel me. Your mother said the curse made compulsion work on me, so if it really did break, then I can't be compelled."

Rebekah seemed to be in thought before she stared into my eyes. "You are going to start cleaning your whole kitchen."

"Really? You tell me to clean? You have the power to make anyone do anything you want, and you choose that?" I took off my jack as I noticed all of the rips and blood all over it.

She pouted. "I didn't know what else to have you do! Not that it made a difference anyway since it didn't work."

Kol sighed loudly. "Enough with your squabbling. We need to start taking care of everything."

Rebekah checked her phone. "You'll have to take care of it. I have to go get Nik's desiccated body."

I looked between them as I realized what that meant. "Wait, so you really took their terms then? You're all leaving?"

"It seems so, darling." I frowned as Kol answered me.

Rebekah then got up to leave but paused when she glanced at my chest."Who the bloody hell gave you those?"

I blinked as I looked to see what she was talking about and saw the marks Kol had left on me the day before. I couldn't stop the blush that reached my cheeks as I look towards Kol and saw him looked between the both of us in disbelief, shook her head, then just left while muttering to herself. Whatever she said caused Kol to chuckle.

After a few moments, Kol sat next to me. "Now that we're alone, I am extremely curious to hear why you smell like both alcohol and the slightly less annoying Salvatore brother."

I shifted myself to face him with a small wince."Well, after getting kidnapped and almost killed yesterday, I decided I needed a drink. I ended up passing out from too much at the cemetery. Stefan found me."

"And that's all?" He leaned back.

I slightly tilted my head. "Yeah, what else would there be."

"Just curious, darling." He leaned in and softly kissed me.

I looked at him in amusement when we pulled away from each other. "You do know Stefan and I are related, right?"

He went to say something but paused as he searched his memory. "It may have escaped my memory."

I smiled knowingly."Okay."

"I suggest you go elsewhere for a few moments now as I still need to get rid of any evidence of your mother's death." I frowned as The thought of what happened came back to the front of my mind.

"Alright." I bit my lip before leaning in and stealing a quick kiss before I walked as quickly as I could upstairs to avoid what happened as much as I could.

When I got to the top, I hesitated before walking into my mother's room. Looking around at everything, I began to wonder how could the woman who raised and cared for me be the same person that tried to wipe my memory and even kill me. Thinking about this made my anger return, so I turned around to leave the room before it got worse. Before I left though, a symbol on her closet door caught my eye. Walking up to it in order to inspect it more closely, I saw that it was painted in either red paint or blood. It was pretty small with circular shapes with unknown markings tied into it. I was going to just leave it be, when my curiosity got the better of me, and I opened the door without touching the symbol. I skipped over the closed as I looked at everything inside until my gaze fell upon an aged looking thick envelope lying on top of three very thick and old books.

Biting my lip in thought, I grabbed the books and envelope and took them to my room. Placing them on my bed, I looked into one my closet and grabbed a messenger bag that I haven't used in a while. After dusting it out, I placed everything inside of it, zipped it up, and placed it under my bed. Right after, I hear police sirens coming from outside which makes me go back downstairs.

When I reached the bottom step, Kol quickly took me back where everything happened. There, I saw that my mother's body was gone, as was her blood, but the glass along with my own blood was not. Kol broke my trance by sitting me on the couch again.

My gaze was still on the spot where my mother's body was, when Kol turned my head. "Are you alright, darling?"

I opened my mouth to answer him but closed it as I thought about it. "I… don't know."

At my answer, something seemed to flash through his eyes, but I wasn't able to think much about it as a policeman came into the room.

"Kol Mikaelson, right?" Kol nodded his head to him. "Were you here when everything happened?"

"No." Kol came to sit by me again.

The officer moved until he was standing in front of us. "Then, who was?"

I spoke up. "That would be me."

"And who are you?"

"Evangeline Emerson." I bit my lip out of nerves.

"The one who was attacked, correct?" I nodded. "And the attacker?"

I looked over at the spot again. "My mother."

"What was your mother's name?" The officer sounded impatient.

I looked back at him."Chloe Emerson."

"Okay, now can you tell me what happened?" He looked at me expectantly.

"Oh, enough of this."Kol got up and grabbed the officer by the back of his neck, forcing him to look into his eyes."Her mother tried to kill her, but she was able to fight her off. Her mother eventually fled when she heard me at the door and Eva had pull a knife on her in self defense. We have no idea where she is now."

In a trance, the officer nodded and walked away from us. Almost right after, a woman in a sheriff uniform walked up to us.

"Hi, I'm Sheriff Forbes." She gave me a small smile. "Now, you wanna tell me what really happened? I would like to know the truth, and there's no point in trying to compel me since I'm on vervain."

I bit my lip in hesitation and looked at Kol but turned back to her."She was trying to kill me with magic, but somehow I unlocked some of my own, and it acted in defence."

"Wait, you mean you killed her?"I hesitated again before nodding. "Alright, well, you don't have to answer anymore questions, but you do have to go to the hospital. After a while I'll come with some papers to figure out some legal issues with everything, okay?"

"Okay." I gave a soft sigh in relief.

"Good."She then looked at Kol. "It would be best for you to take her since it wouldn't be good idea for her to drive or even walk there."As soon as she finished, she walked away.

* * *

At the hospital, Kol stayed with me as I got checked by the nurses. The whole process took about an hour since they wanted to make sure everything was working properly. Even after that, I had to wait another fifteen minutes before a doctor finally came in. Unfortunately, it was the same woman who was with Mr. Saltzman when they daggered Kol at the Grill.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Fell." She hesitated, glancing at Kol, before fulling walking into the room. "There's nothing serious. You have some bruising, small cuts on various areas of your body, and what seems to be muscle strain. You aren't in need of any medicine except for antibiotics for your cuts, but I do recommend for you to talk to someone about what happened to you."

I shook my head. "That won't be necessary. I'm fine."

She stared at me for a few moments. "Well, if you're so sure. Now, I would like to keep you for a bit longer to run some more tests for extra precautions if that's alright with you."

I nodded. "That's fine."

"Good, now, I'll be right back, but before I do go, I would like to ask you about those marks on your chest." She motioned towards my chest.

I blushed slightly. "There's no need for that. They weren't from what happened."

She stared at me again before looking at Kol who looked smug. "I see. Well, I'll return shortly."With that, she walked out.

After a few moments, Kol spoke up. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"What do you mean?" I looked up at him.

He came closer to me and started wiping the blood off of my face with a wet napkin. "Your mother's gone, and my family is fleeing town, so what are you going to do? Are you going to go back to where you grew up or stay here?"

I frowned as I thought about it. "... I don't know, I guess. I could stay here to finish school. I could go back, but it wouldn't feel right. I could also go and check out New Orleans since I apparently have a family there."

"You'll love New Orleans, darling." He was grinning now.

I watched as he threw away the blood filled napkin. "You've been there, I'm assuming?"

He walked back over to me. "It's where I was daggered last. The witches of the French Quarter were quite fond of me in those times."

"Why were you daggered? If you don't mind me asking." I bit my lip.

"Rebekah couldn't keep help but tell Nik that I was plotting behind his back."My eyes widened in shock. "I was planning to create a dagger that would work on him. It was supposed to be a weapon to protect myself from becoming daggered again. Unfortunately, I was never able to finish since not only was I daggered, but the witches that were working with me were locked inside of a house with no ways of escaping."

Before I could respond to him, Rebekah came barging into the hospital room, crying."He's gone. Nik is dead."

Kol's eyes widened. "You're lying."

"I saw it myself, Kol! I was getting his body from Damon when the history teacher came from nowhere and daggered him. His body burst into flames." She flung herself into my arms as Kol left angrily.

As Rebekah held onto me, I couldn't process the fact that Klaus was dead. It seemed to be almost impossible. I was completely shocked at the turn of events.I was pulled from these thoughts when Rebekah pulled away from me and sped away.

Not long after, Dr. Fell finally came back to do a few extra tests, but I don't really pay her any mind as exhaustion hit me. When she finally left, I laid back, then everything went black.

* * *

My eyes open, and I hear people walking around and making soft noises. I blinked in confusion as I sat up and saw that the noises were coming from some nurses gathering a few things. I looked around and saw Dr. Fell writing some things down.

When she looked up, she spoke. "Oh, good, you're awake."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep." I rubbed my eyes.

She stood up. "It's alright. Though, Sheriff Forbes is here for you. She's came about ten minutes ago. I'll let her in now. You're free to go whenever you have everything together."

"Thanks." After I said this, she left, and Sheriff Forbes came in immediately after.

"Hello, again." She smiled at me. "So, the first thing we found was that your mother had no will written. Because of this, and the fact that you are the only living family member she seemed to have, adopted or not, all accounts and assets now belong to you. However, since you are not eighteen yet, you can choose to either be legally emancipated, or you could be put under someone's temporary care. Normally, you would be given free reigns to choose, however, given your unique circumstance, I believe emancipation wouldn't be allowed by the court."

I frowned. "What would you recommend I do, then?"

"Well, seeing due to your circumstance, I suggest you choose to be placed in someone's care who knows about the supernatural. You shouldn't be alone considering how much you know and what you're able to do, also what you just went through is quite a traumatic event. The only issue is who will do this. Normally, it would be a family member, but seeing as none of your adopted family members are still living, that is an issue." She smiled sadly at me.

"And that's where I come in." I jumped slightly in surprise as Damon came into the room.

Sheriff Forbes was surprised as well. "Damon?"

"Oh, did I forget to mention that I have a long lost and very distant niece?" He fakes a thoughtful look.

"Wait, what?" She looked back and forth between the both of us with her eyebrows raised.

I decided to explain it to her. "When I went looking for my biological parents, I found out my father was Ethan Salvatore."

"You mean Zach's brother had a kid?" She seemed to be in disbelief.

He shrugged. "Apparently. Stefan even kept tabs on her and everything."

"Anyway, I'll just go get the paperwork for you both to sign then."She left.

When she left, I looked at Damon in my own confusion. "Why are you doing this?"

He rolled his eyes at me. "Don't go looking deep into this. I'm only doing this so Stefan doesn't nag me if he found out I just left you."

Sheriff Forbes chose then to come back in and hand us both some forms. "Here you go. Just fill these out and everything should be in order."

I looked at it and saw that it was almost like a contract. It was a form of consent to say that I was okay with being under someone else's care until I'm seen as an adult. I quickly signed it and handed it back to the Sheriff. When Damon handed her his a few minutes after, she smiled at us and left.

"Come on, then. Let's go and get your stuff first. Then, off to the boarding house." I stood up and followed Damon out.

As I entered my new room in the Salvatore Boarding house, I thought about everything that happened. So deep into my thoughts, I didn't even notice Damon placing the rest of my things, that we had gotten from my old room after leaving the hospital, on the floor and leave. What broke me out of my thoughts was my phone going off with a small and short tune. Checking it, I saw that it was a text from Matt saying that he heard about what happened and was wondering if I was okay. Not in the mood to talk to anyone, I put down my phone and started to unpack my things.

When I had about a third of everything unpacked and put away, I stopped and sat on my bed to take a few breaths. Everything seemed to become too much at that moment. Slowly, tears began to fall down my face. Soon enough, I began to silently sob, so I layed down. After what seemed like hours, I fell asleep crying.


	15. Chapter 15

With nothing else to do, I sat on my bed with what I had found in my mother's room the night before. Looking at the covers of the three books first, I discovered that they were grimoires. One obviously belonged to my adoptive mother, as it was a traveller's grimoire. The other two grimoires must have belonged to my actual mother, as one said 'LaRue' on it while the other said 'Bennett'. Setting them aside for later, I picked up the thick envelope and saw my name written in cursive. Opening it, I found two letters inside. Putting down the second, I began to read the first.

" _My dear Evangeline. If you're reading this, it means that I have died somehow. I'm sorry. I know a letter isn't the way to explain anything, but you have a right to know either way. I wanted to write this just in case you're father decided not to tell you anything right away, or if he died as well. I'm a witch sweetheart. In case you didn't know this either: witches, vampires, werewolves, travelers, and ghosts all exist. You see, I happen to come from two powerful bloodlines. On my mother's side is the LaRue family, and on my father's is the Bennett family._

" _When I had found out I was pregnant with you, I was so excited! I thought you were going to be perfect, and I still do. I had daydreams about teaching you about where you come from and how to do magic as well, but it seems that I wasn't able to. For that I am sorry, but recently, something has changed. You're not a witch sweetheart. I can feel it. You don't have the aura or power of one. I don't know what you are, but I still love you either way._

" _Now, since I can't tell you in person, I'm going to tell you a story about our distant ancestors. Her name was Qetsiyah. The Bennett witch line actually descends from her distantly. You see, she was a powerful witch from about 2000 years ago who fell in love with another powerful witch named Silas. They were to be married. From her love, she created the first immortality spell. However, on the day of their wedding, Silas went missing along with the two goblets that held the immortality spell. Qetsiyah was furious because when she found him, he was with her handmaiden, Amara. Silas had tricked her into believing his love was for her, when it was truly for Amara. Stricken with rage, Qetsiyah killed Amara and dessicated Silas. Wanting to punish him even more, Qetsiyah intricately hid his body where no one could find it and placed the cure for immortality with him._

" _Many witches believe this to just be a tale passed through generations with no truth behind it, but know that they are_ wrong _. This story is as real as the both of us. I tell you this now because there may be a time where you run into a few hunters who call themself 'The Brotherhood of the Five'. They are a group of hunters who have blessed with supernatural abilities by a dying witch who was a descendent of Qetsiyah. They were gifted these abilities in order to fulfill Qetsiyah's wish. She wanted them to cure and kill Silas. To help find him, they had markings on their bodies that would serve as a map to where he was hidden. These markings are called the 'Hunter's Mark'. Along with their new abilities and markings, they gained the ability to curse whoever should kill them. 'The Hunter's Curse', which is what it became to be called, drove the person so mad, that they would end their own life._

" _You're probably wondering why I'm bothering to tell her all of this, aren't you? Well, I tell you this now because I want you to be very cautious of anyone who seems to fit into these categories. As much as I would like for you to be hidden away from the supernatural world, it is only a matter of time before it can not be helped. So I tell you, steer clear of any of The Five, and stay far away from anything involving Silas. Know that I love you. -Your Mother, Aurora Salvatore"_

I couldn't help but begin to tear up as I read the letter from my mother, my _actual_ mother. To find out that she specifically wrote a letter to me, and that she loved me as well, made my heart swell. Getting ahold of myself, I wiped my tears and picked up the second letter.

" _Hey baby girl. This is your father here. Well, I didn't really know what to write for you, so I may have snuck a look at your mother's letter. I'm going to start with, 'I'm sorry'. I am sorry. I really am. I know you're probably very angry at me for giving you away. I need you to know that I did it because I figured you would be safer that way. Mystic Falls is filled with the supernatural, almost as though it were a magnet. I figured that the best way to keep you safe was to give you to a family that could protect you better than I could. With your mother gone, it tore me apart to have to lose you as well, but I felt that it was for the best._

" _Now, this part I kind of stole from your mother. It's the whole 'reveal your secret that no one else could tell you' speech. You see, I did some digging on the story that your mother told you in her letter. Turns out, that Silas guy she mentioned, the Salvatores happen to be very distant descendants of his. Cool, huh? Also, now that you are already shocked from that, I'm going to tell you about my mother. You see, you may or may not know this, but she doesn't exist in any government documents or records at all. This is because she isn't human._

" _You see, no one else believes her but me. I don't know why, well it might be all of the strange books she has, but I believe your grandmother when she tells me that she's not human, but a faerie. And yes, I did spell that right. Apparently, and I laugh to myself because I finally know something your mother didn't, faeries exist within an invisible sanctuary that they have made for themselves. Only those of their blood can see through the illusions. Now, before you start questioning my sanity for believing her when others obviously did not, know that my mother had no other children besides myself. Also, she mentioned that this trait is only passed down through the females in the family. My brother, Zach, has a different mother of his own before you question that as well._

" _If you ever find yourself back in Mystic Falls, and I'm not there to greet you, I want you to go to the Salvatore boarding house, get into my room somehow, and look underneath the floor in my closet. In there are two old books that belonged to your grandmother and were passed down through generations. I love you baby girl. -Ethan Salvatore._

" _P.S. The key to my room, along with the key to open the floor in the closet, are hidden in a small hole that's underneath the third stair on the staircase."_

Reading my father's letter, tears freely fell down my cheeks. His words of love and his apology healed a piece of my heart that believed he didn't care for me at all. I also couldn't help but laugh at his humorous words. It wasn't until I calmed down though, that I realized what he had revealed to me.

With the thoughts spinning in my mind, I quickly found the keys he mentioned and ran from room to room until I finally found the one that was locked. Taking a breath to brace myself, I unlocked the door and pushed it open. The room was unique with everything a different color of the rainbow. I couldn't help but smile as I saw it. Looking around, my eyes landed on the closet. While it opened easily, I noticed how much of a disorganized mess it was. With wide eyed, I shoved my hands underneath the mess of the floor until I felt the cold keyhole on the floor. Shoving everything off of it, I unlocked it and lifted it open. Inside were two extremely thick and dusty books. Carefully picking them up, I dusted them off and carried them into my room after closing everything.

Once inside my room again, I sat back down on my bed and picked up the book that was on the top. Seeing that there was nothing written on the cover, I opened it and saw blank pages. I was confused for a few moments before I saw words begin to appear in gold. My eyes widened in amazement as I saw that every page was now filled. Looking at the inside of the cover, I saw that it seemed to be either instructions or a guide. I decided to read it.

" _Only those with the blood of the fae can read this book. To all others, the pages will seem to be blank. Inside contains the language of our people for young fae to learn, known as Faelish. Thanks to the magic of our people, the book will hold the translations for our language from whatever language native to the reader. If their blood runs true, the ways to say all will be natural."_

I skimmed through the book and saw the alphabet, along with specific translations and grammar rules. I decided to try a word to test if the book was right or not.

"Hmm, how about 'friend'" Scanning the pages, I found it and read it. " _Zshtirwécrm._ "

I smiled to myself as the pronunciation of the complicated looking word came easily to me. Putting the book down before I got too into it, I picked up the other to see what it was. Unlike the other, it said 'Buchan' on the cover. Opening it, I once again had to wait a few moments for the words to appear in gold. On the first page was a list of names written in cursive. However, the rest of the pages were still blank, so I decided to read the inside of the cover to understand why.

" _Only those with the blood of the fae can read this book. To all others, the pages will seem to be blank. Inside contains the magic of our people for all fae to learn. This is the book of the royal family who have descended from Mavis herself, and only those of royal blood can own this book. Each owner must sign their name in blood on the first page in the language native to them in order to gain access to all that is inside. The signature must be of the name given to them at birth, regardless of any name changes since then. If not of royal blood, the signature will disappear and the book will be locked until found by another."_

Biting my lip, I grabbed a thin and unused eyeliner brush from my makeup bag and a small knife from the kitchen. When I was sitting back on my bed, I took a deep breath before poking a small hole in my palm with the knife. When enough blood swelled out, I gathered it on the eyeliner brush and signed my name as 'Evangeline Salvatore' on the line that appeared underneath the name 'Allina Buchan', who I assumed to be my grandmother. Once I was done, the blood shone gold and stuck to the page as the others before it. Feeling a warmth come from the cover, I closed the book and noticed the cover now said 'Salvatore' instead of 'Buchan' like before.

Looking through the rest of the pages, I saw that everything was written in Faelish, so I put it down with a pout and picked up the other book to learn it.

* * *

Looking around Mystic Falls High School, I felt as misplaced as I did when at the beginning of the year after I had first transferred. Without Rebekah, I realized that there weren't many people I considered friends or even knew.

"Eva!" I jumped as I was broken out of my thoughts by Matt calling my name.

Looking around in confusion, I finally noticed him standing with Jeremy as he placed a few boxes into the back of a car. Seeing him wave me over, I bit my lip and hesitated before finally walking over to him.

I smiled up at him as I stopped in front of him. "Hey, Matt." I noticed Jeremy doing everything he could to ignore me.

"Hey. I, uh, heard about what happened." He gave me a small smile back and looked at me sympathetically. "With your mom and stuff. How are you holding up?"

I as taken by surprised since I hadn't realized anyone would know about what happened to me. "Oh, um, I'm not really sure, actually. I might be still in shock I guess."

"Yeah, sorry if I seemed a bit forward. I was just worried." He looked embarrassed.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "How did you find out, anyway?"

"Oh, Caroline's helped her mother with fixing everything up in the paperwork and stuff. She mentioned it to me last night." There was a slight awkward silence.

"Wait, what happened?" The silence was broken by Jeremy voicing his confusion.

Not wanting to go into details, I gave him a shortened version. "My mother tried to kill me."

"What?" This made his eyes widen. "Why?"

"Let's just say she's not very… fond… of vampires." I said bitterly.

"Well, what if she tried again?" It seems as though Jeremy's ill feelings towards myself were temporarily forgotten as he questioned me.

"She can't." I frowned, not wanting to talk about it anymore. "She's dead."

"So, uh, I heard you're living with the Salvatores now." Matt quickly changed the subject.

I nodded. "Yeah, Damon offered at the hospital. He did it for Stefan apparently. It was accepted pretty quickly since he's my closest living relative. Well, sort of living."

I then looked back at the boxes in the car. "Anyways, what are these for?"

"They're paper lanterns. The student council made them for after the Memorial. We light them up in honor of all the dead."Jeremy explained as we walked towards where the rest of the boxes were.

I frowned "Nobody thought fire might be a little inappropriate?"

Jeremy scoffed. "Yeah, I wouldn't make that crack in front of Elena."

"Crack?"I was confused about what he meant, but I went ignored.

"How is she?" Matt asked Jeremy.

He frowned. "I guess she's fine, considering."

"If there's anything I can do, you know, short of giving her a ride, you'll let me know, right? I'm only alive because she told Stefan to save me first. She's a vampire because of me, so I'd like to pay it back or forward or whatever." I looked up at Matt to see him looking incredibly guilty.

Jeremy nodded."Yeah."

Matt then turned to me."You wanna help?"

I glanced at Jeremy to see if he was opposed, but he seemed to not care. "Uhh, sure."I helped them grab a few boxes, and we walked back to the car.

While we were walking, we were approached by a girl with black hair and crystal blue eye who seemed to be around Jeremy's age. "Jeremy?"When he looked at her confused, she continued."Picture an emo pixie cut and braces."

He seemed shocked. "April?"

She smiled. "Yeah."

Jeremy put the box down and walked towards her. "You look great!"He turned towards Matt."You remember April? Elena used to…"

Matt interrupted him before he could finish. "Elena used to babysit you. Yeah, I remember."

"Yeah, before I got shipped off to boarding school by my dad." She then looked at me."Since we obviously don't know each other, I'm April."

I gave her a smile."I'm Eva."

Just then, Jeremy spoke up. "Your dad. Oh my God, I am so sorry about your dad."

She seemed a bit awkward. "Thank you. I guess. I sort of don't know how to answer when people say that."

"Your dad was Pastor Young, right?" Matt realized.

She nodded. "He had the faulty gas line."

Matt looked down awkwardly, and I decided to fill the silence."Yeah, that was… unfortunate."

"Sorry, I haven't figured out what to say about that yet either. Wow, I am being a freak. Um… I'm just, you know, not much for grief, I guess. I have to go register or something, I think."She quickly walked away with Matt, Jeremy, and myself watching her awkwardly.

* * *

Later on that day, when I was finally back at the boarding house, I decided to take advantage of the empty house by plugging in my speakers inside of the bathroom in my room and playing music loudly. With the music playing, I filled up the bath with bubbles and relaxed myself. Once I was finished, I decided to keep the music playing, as I wrapped a towel around myself and walked into my room to get dressed. While looking through my clothes, though, I felt the peaceful mood I was in begin to fade once I stumbled upon a picture of myself and my "mother". Frowning, I placed it on my bed and got dressed after putting on some anti-infection cream over my cuts that were now scabbed over.

Picking up the picture, I left my room and looked all over the house for a lighter. Unable to find one, I walked into the kitchen and turned on the stove. Once the fire was lit, I held the picture over it until it began to burn. I couldn't help but stare at it as the flames overtook it. When the picture was almost fully burned, it was taken from me gently.

I looked to see that it was Stefan who had taken it, put it out, and disposed of it. When he came to stand in front of me, I looked up at him and felt tears begin to pool in my eyes. Through the blur of the tears, I could vaguely make out Stefan frowning before he pulled me into his arms, where I proceeded to break down as the tears fell and sobs escaped my mouth.

After what felt like an hour later, I calmed down enough to pull away.

Taking a deep breath, I wiped my face and looked back up at Stefan. "Thank you. I guess I needed that."

"Anytime. Listen, I know I haven't shown it due to everything and all, but you are family."After slight hesitation, he leaned down and kissed the top of my head.

"That sounds… nice."He smiled at my response, and I couldn't help but give a small smile in return.

My phone then began to ring at that moment. When I pulled it out of my pocket, I saw that it was Rebekah. As I answer it, Stefan leaves the kitchen, and I head back up to my room.

I wondered why she was calling. "Rebekah! Is everything okay?"

"Where are you right now?" She sounded impatient, yet excited.

I put away the cream for my cuts that I had left on my bed. "I'm at the Salvatore's, why?"

There was a short pause. "What the hell are you doing there?"

"Well, according to Sheriff Forbes, I had to be placed under guardianship since I'm not eighteen yet and family would be the best option. Damon happened to overhear, so he placed me under him." I sat down.

She huffed. "Well I'll come over and get you, then we can go compel someone to get that undone."

I bit my lip as I hesitated. "Actually, I don't really mind it here. It's not so bad."

There was another pause. "Did you forget that Damon almost killed you?!"

I frowned. "No, but that's not gonna happen again."

"Why are you defending them? After everything they've done!" She was almost screaming into the phone now.

"Rebekah, calm down! I'm not defending anything that they have done, I'm just telling you that being here is not as bad as it may seem. Rebekah, I have a chance to get to know some of my only living family. The bridge with Damon may be burnt, but Stefan and I are making progress." I pleaded with her to understand.

Unfortunately, she didn't listen to my pleas. "I can't believe you! You're just like the rest of them! Well, enjoy your family, Eva. You deserve them!"

With that said, Rebekah hung up, and I looked at my phone in disbelief and sadness.

I jumped as the front door slammed open and looked to see Caroline carrying an injured Tyler in.

"What the hell happened to him?!" I stood up from the couch.

Caroline answered as Stefan walked over to them. "Some guy shot him with wooden bullets!"

Stefan has her place Tyler on the floor before he looks towards me. "Can you go into the kitchen and get the metal tongs."

With a nod, I hurry to the kitchen and grab them. As soon as I handed them to him, he started using them to pull out wooden bullets from his chest.

"Please tell me that's the last one." Caroline was standing nearby, worried.

"These were specially carved; the length, the width. If you were a normal vampire, you'd be dead."Stefan was inspecting a bullet carefully, before he placed it in a glass of alcohol to clean it off.

Tyler grunted. "This guy knew what he was doing. His gloves must have been steeped in vervain. He was looking for a vampire and he didn't hesitate for a second when he found one."

"These etchings…."Stefan began to observe the bullet again, and when he touched it, it burned him.

As I take a closer look at the markings, I couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity.

Caroline became even more worried. "Are the bullets spelled?"

Stefan, on the other hand, was confused. "I don't know. They're something."

I kneeled down next to Stefan in thought. "I've seen these before."

"Do you remember where?" I looked up to see all of their eyes on me.

I frowned since I couldn't remember. "Not exactly. I think Rebekah may have showed it to me before, but I can't place it. I do know that it's very old, though."

Caroline groaned loudly. "We can't just ask Rebekah about this. She won't tell us."

"She'll tell me."I frowned when I remembered our argument. "Or at least she would have. She isn't exactly happy with me at the moment."

Caroline furrowed her brows in confusion."Why not? You guys are like always together."

I bit my lip before deciding that telling her wouldn't bring any harm. "She's upset that I'm here with Stefan and Damon. I think she feels betrayed or something. So, she wouldn't answer me if I ask."

"But we can ask Bonnie." As soon as he finished speaking, he picked up the bullet and headed out the door.

"Uhh, guys?" Caroline and I both turned to look at Tyler as he spoke up. "I think Stefan missed a few."

Our eyes widened as we looked over him and found three more lodged in him. Passing the tongs to Caroline, I watched as she picked them out, causing him to cry out in pain.

When she was finished, she turned to me. "Are you going to the memorial?"

I shrugged. "Well, I didn't really know anyone, so I wasn't planning on going."

"You don't have to. It's just to pay respect. Come on, you shouldn't be here alone." She smiled brightly at me.

I bit my lip in thought. "Alright, I guess."

"Great." She smiled then turned back to Tyler. "I'm going to help her get cleaned up and ready. You should do the same."

* * *

As Tyler, Caroline, and I walked into the church, I couldn't help but feel slightly out of place. Luckily, we quickly sat down next to each other. Glancing around, I noticed Matt and Jeremy a few rows from us.

I turned to Tyler as a thought came to mind. "Are you sure you should be here after what happened?"

He looked at me with determination in his eyes. "I'm not going to let some hunter keep me from being here and paying respects."

Stefansuddenly stopped next to us. "What are you doing here, Tyler?"

"Being sensitive to the community's loss." Tyler didn't bother looking at him.

I looked at Stefan to see disbelief written all over his face. "With a hunter out to get you?"

Tyler sighed. "As I just told Eva, I'm not letting a hunter stop me from where I'm supposed to be."

Caroline chose then to input herself into the conversation."Also, if he shows his face, I'm gonna kick his ass."

Instead of continuing to argue with them, Stefan walked away and moved down a row. As Mayor Lockwood stood at the podium to prepare to start the memorial, he sat down.

"Before we begin the Mass, we'd like to open the floor to anyone who would like to share a memory about our late friends on the Town Council. I know that April Young wanted to say a few words about her dad. April? April, are you still here, honey?"She looked around but didn't seem to be able to find her anywhere. "Is there anyone else who would like to share a recollection or a memory about Pastor Young?"

No one got up for a moment. Finally, Elena stood up as no one else would. When she did, though, I noticed that Caroline seemed to be worried.

Mayor Lockwood welcomed her warmly. "Come on up, Elena."

Elena proceeded to walk up to the podium shakily. At the moment, I heard the doors to the church open up and looked to see Damon walking him, I turned back around to see that Elena was almost to the podium.

When she finally reached it, she looked at everyone nervously. "I uh, when I talked to April earlier she was kind of nervous about coming up to speak. And now that I'm up here, I'm kind of nervous too."

She paused as he gripped the sides of the podium. After a short moment, she began again.

"The worst day of loving someone is the day that you lose them."Elena stopped again, and I noticed she began to look around for something.

I glanced Stefan, Tyler, Damon, and Caroline all doing the same. I became confused but figured it was something only they were able to know due to being vampires.

Caroline turned to Tyler. "Do you smell that?"

Tyler nodded. "Blood."

My eyes widened. "What?!"

I looked back at the podium to see that Elena started to breathe heavily.

Caroline them turned to me. "Don't move or turn around. Damon says there's a trap."

"I um…"She began to breathe in and out heavily.

Before anything could happen, though, Stefan went up to the podium and wrapped his arm around her. "It's okay, it's okay. I got you, I got you." He lead Elena off the stage and back into the row next to Matt.

The priest took over and went over to the podium. "Please turn to page forty two in your hymn book. Let us join together in a song."

Everyone in the room stood up and began to sing. Shortly into the song, I noticed Tyler's attention on something else. Following his line of vision, I realized he was staring at Matt holding Elena. I didn't understand why he would be so focused on them at first, but then I realized she was most likely feeding on him due to her meltdown over the smell of blood.

Looking away from them, I noticed Tyler had gotten up and moved passed Caroline. I stared, confused, as he walked up the aisle. Suddenly, he stops and the podium and everyone turned to look at him.

"Excuse me. I just wanted to say a few words about Pastor Young." Everyone sat back down. "Back in first grade, I was a brat who couldn't be bothered with team sports. Didn't care much about anything that didn't affect me. But he was the one who made me understand how important it is to be part of a team; a community. Of giving yourself up for the sake of…"

Before he could continue, a gunshot was heard, and Tyler fell to the floor. All at once, everyone started to scream as they ducked into the aisles and rushed out of the church. As everyone does this, Damon makes his way out with the crowd calmly. Panicking, I decided to follow Caroline as she rushed towards Tyler. We get to him around the same time Mayor Lockwood does. I also vaguely notice Elena come towards Tyler as well.

The Mayor was distressed. "Oh my God."

Caroline kneeled next to Tyler and ripped out the wooden stake he was shot with just as Stefan rushed into the stage and stood next to Elena.

Tyler then started coughing."I'm gonna kill that bastard."

"Damon's way ahead of you. Stay here, I have to help him."Stefan started to leave, but Elena grabbed his hand to stop him.

"What about April?" From her concern, I realized it must have been April's blood that they smelled earlier.

"I got it. Go." Stefan left after reassurance from Caroline.

Mayor Lockwood took out her phone."I have to call an ambulance."

Caroline shook her head."No, he's fine."

I turned as I saw movement and noticed Elena walking away.

"The whole town just watched you get shot. I'm calling an ambulance."Frustrated and upset, the Mayor left.

Just then, Caroline looked up and saw that Elena was gone. "Elena."

"She left."I shrugged as we both got up.

She sighed. "Let's go find April, then."

I nodded and followed her as she headed up the stairs of the church. I didn't bother questioning how she knew where to go since I figured she just followed the smell of blood.

Once we got to the balcony, the first thing I noticed was April gagged up and bleeding. Then, I noticed how Elena seemed to get here at the same time as us as well.

"April!"Elena rushed over to her, but stopped when she sees the blood on her.

She then suddenly rushed towards April to feed off her. Luckily, Caroline was able to interfere in time by grabbing Elena.

Caroline stared into Elena's eyes. "She's not dead, but if you feed on her you will kill her!"

"Let go of me!"Elena tried to fight Caroline off.

Caroline shook her. "Look at her! Look at her, Elena! It's April. April Young. She's not a warm body for you to feed on. She's your friend."

Elena slowly started to turn back to normal as Caroline's words got through to her. Seeing this, Caroline slowly released her.

"She's an orphan. Just like you. She's scared. Just like you were." Caroline then bites her wrist and feeds April her blood.

April gasps and looks at Caroline once she healed. "Please, don't hurt me. Please."

"No one's gonna hurt you. No one's gonna hurt you." Caroline stood up and looked towards Elena. "She needs you. You can make her forget all of this."

"Why did he do this?" Seeing that they were both ignoring April at the moment, I went over to her to comfort her until they compel her to forget what happened.

Elena shook her head. "No, I, I can't, Caroline. You have to do it."

Caroline wouldn't take no for an answer. "No. The only way you're going to learn is if you do it yourself."

"No, I can't."

"Yes, you can. You just need to believe what you're telling her. Okay?" Caroline finally seemed to convince Elena as she nodded.

Hesitating, Elena kneeled down next to April and me. She gently touches her shoulder to get her attention.

"April, listen to me." April shakily looked at Elena. "Everything's gonna be okay. You're gonna get through this. Just like I got through it."

You heard Elena begin to compel April. "I'm going to help you. I promise."

You looked up at April to see her with a blank look on her face. "I'm gonna be okay. You're gonna help me."

Elena looked up at Caroline once she finished and smile. Caroline smiled back in encouragement. "You watched the funeral from up here so that you could grieve alone. It was a beautiful service. People said really nice things."

April smiled dreamily.

* * *

I was in the car with Damon since Caroline wanted to be with Tyler for a while longer and she was my ride to the service. There was a slight awkward silence, but it was manageable thankfully. We were currently headed to the high school since Stefan texted him for us to meet everyone there when we were halfway to the house. Once we got there, we got out of the car. Damon walked over towards Bonnie, who was also getting out of her car.

"What are we doing here?" Damon sounded annoyed.

Bonnie shrugged. "I don't know. Ask Stefan."

I looked around and spotted Caroline, Eva, Stefan, Elena, Matt, and Jeremy sitting at the tables outside of the school. I trailed behind Bonnie and Damon as we approach them. I noticed that Stefan had some paper lanterns in his hands.

Damon huffed. "Stefan, what are we doing?"

"We're finishing the memorial we didn't get to have earlier." Stefan handed Elena a lantern. "We need to start healing, Damon. We've all lost so much, especially recently. I think we're numb to it. We push it away, we make a joke out of it, ignore how we feel. We've never just let ourselves grieve."

Damon rolled his eyes."So, you're lighting lanterns?"

Stefan nodded."Yeah. Yeah, we need to do this."

Damon became aggravated. "What we need to do is find out who this hunter is and what he knows about the death of the Council. We have more important things to be doing right now than this."

"Not tonight, we don't." Damon scoffed at Stefan's words."This is for my uncle Zach and my friend Lexi and for Alaric."Stefan lit the lantern, then handed the lighter to Matt.

"This is for Vicki."Matt lit his lantern, then Caroline got up and took the lighter from him.

"This is for my dad. And Tyler's." She lit her lantern.

Jeremy got up and took the lighter from Caroline. He looked at Elena. "This is for our parents."He then looked at Matt."For Vicki. Anna. Jenna. And Alaric."

He lit his lantern and looked up at Damon. He tried to hand him the lighter but Damon refused it.

"No way. I'm not doing that." Damon left.

Jeremy instead handed the lighter to Bonnie, then. She took a lantern out of the box and took the lighter from Jeremy. She got up to stand next to Caroline. "This is for my Grams."

Caroline then surprised me by pulling me up next to her, and giving me a lantern. Bonnie passes me the lighter almost right after. I hesitated slightly before looking up to see almost everyone smiling at me for reassurance.

"This is for my mom because even if she tried to kill me, she was my mom and the one who raise me. This is also for my real mom and dad. For everything they did for me and everything they never got to do." A tear slipped out as I lit the lantern.

Stefan then looked at Elena. She got up and stood next to him. Without any hesitation, I held out the lighter, and she took it. She lit the lantern. "This um, is for my mom, my dad, Jenna, everyone that you've all lost, everyone that this town has lost. And for me, I guess."

Elena stepped forward and released her lantern. One at a time, we all began to release our lanterns as well. We watch them as they float off into the night sky. It was then that I decided it was time I moved on from Chloe Emerson for good.


	16. Chapter 16

I walked through the door to History with Elena and Stefan since they dragged me along with them, and sat next to Stefan as he insisted. As I was taking my things out of my bag, I noticed that Elena looked as though she was about to cry. Following her gaze, I looked towards the black board and saw Mr. Saltzman's notes on it. At first I was confused, until I remembered they were close, and he was now dead according to Stefan.

Stefan sighed as he too saw the board. "It's the first time we've been back in Alaric's classroom…"

Elena slowly nodded. "First period, and I'm ready to bawl my eyes out."

I then saw Rebekah enter the classroom carrying flyers. "Morning, everyone."

"Morning, Bekah." Some random girl replied to her.

I could hear Elena mutter lowly. "Just like that, I'm no longer feeling sentimental."

"So, I'm throwing a little anti-curfew party at my new house. Starts at fifth period and goes 'til whenever. Spread the word."She handed out a couple of the flyers and turned to Elena."You're welcome to join, Elena, if you'd like to bury the hatchet."

She handed Elena a flyer, and Elena took it. "It's a pretty enormous hatchet."

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm feeling generous of spirit."

"New house, huh? Did your brother finally kick you out?" Despite not on speaking terms with Rebekah at the moment, I still slightly glared at Elena for the remark.

Rebekah glared as well."He didn't kick me out, I left."

"So, you left the only person on earth that actually likes you?"I cleared my throat obnoxiously, but Elena just gave me a hard stare as if telling me to stay out of it.

Rebekah looked at Stefan. "Well, your boyfriend liked me once."Stefan looked up at her, clearly not happy to be dragged into it the conversation. "Actually, a _lot_ more than once."

Rebekah smirked, while Elena looked furious, but ever the peacemaker, Stefan spoke up. "Why are you still in town, Rebekah? Don't you have anywhere else to go?"

"Well, history's my favorite class. Actually, where is Mr. Saltzman...?" She paused dramatically and smiled, causing Elena's rage to intensify. "Oh, that's right, I killed him."

Elena lost her temper at that point and threw her pencil at Rebekah, who caught it. Almost too quick to see, Rebekah threw it back at Elena with a flick of her wrist, which caused it to impale Elena in the shoulder. As they glared at each other, Elena removed the pencil from her shoulder, got up, then left before anyone else in class could notice what just happened. Stefan followed right after her, leaving me alone with Rebekah.

Instead of leaving, Rebekah held out a flyer to me as well. "Here."

I didn't take it."You know, the last time I talked to you, you made it clear that you were oh so very angry at me."

"I know. I'm sorry alright. Just please come."Frowning, she left the flyer on my desk and went out into the hallway.

* * *

Not fully understanding why, I made my way to the hunter's trailer per Damon's request after he called me. Opening the door and walking into the trailer, I saw Damon inside standing very still.

I leaned against the door."Why did you ask me to come here?"

He didn't bother turning around. "Come in. Close the door."

When I walked further in and closed the door, I finally noticed he had arrows in him that were attached to what looked like explosives. "Tell me that is _not_ a bomb."

"Okay. It's a kitten. It's an adorable, exploding kitten." His voice was sarcastic.

I couldn't help but freak out. "How the hell did you get yourself into this?! And why didn't you just call Stefan instead?!"

"Because I'm proud, and stubborn, and... oh, look! You're already here." I looked at him like he was insane."Come on, you're not gonna get hurt. All I need you to do is cut out the arrow. I'd do it myself, but if I move…"Damon gently touched the string attached to the arrow buried in his back.

"Don't touch that you idiot!"Damon pulled his hand away and made a soft 'kaboom' noise to demonstrate his point. "Okay!"

I grabbed a knife lying on the table nearby and moved behind Damon. Grimacing, I put the point of the knife next to the entry point of the arrow going through Damon's back.

A few moments after, Damon broke the silence. "So, how was your day today?"

I figured it was a great distraction from the sight in front of me. "Rebekah showed up to antagonize Elena. Also to invite people to her party. Oh, the hunter was also there apparently."

He turned his head to look at me. "By the way, did I ever tell you that I found out Ethan had a room in the house?"

I didn't bother looking at him since I wanted to stay focused. "No, but I found out this morning. Apparently, my mom had an envelope that contained letters from them. I wish I had found them before. It would have saved me a lot of time to just read about I'm not a human, I'm related to Bonnie but not a witch, and I'm apparently a faerie."

"You mean like Tinkerbell?" He scoffed

I scowled."No, not Tinkerbell. Not to mention it was spelled like F-A-E-R-I-E."

While I continued cutting around the arrow, Damon picked up something.

"So, Mayor Young. Nice, _crazy_ guy. He wrote a letter about sacrifice and war brewing in Mystic Falls."He held up a letter for me to read, so I paused in what I was doing to skim over it as I saw it was from Pastor Young to April.

"What does he mean, 'a greater evil is coming'?" I continued to use the knife to dig around the arrow in Damon's back.

He shrugged gently, causing me to glare at the back of my head."Beats me."

Damon's phone then started to ring. When he looked at it, though, he ignored the call. I notice it had said Elena when he looked at it, but didn't bother saying anything about it and continued working on freeing him.

I ended up getting annoyed of the silence. "How did you get stuck on hunter duty?"

"Stefan had a Physics test." He spoke sarcastically, and possible bitter as well.

I couldn't stop myself from smiling sympathetically. "You are a good brother. Bad multi-great uncle, but good brother."

"I'm the _bad_ brother. And are you really still holding that against me?" He scoffed.

"You're strung up to a bomb while Stefan plays vampire with the girl who broke your heart. But, you're doing a _very_ good job of acting like it doesn't suck."I paused and made a face."And you do realize you almost _killed_ me right?"

"But I didn't."He turned his head and grinned at me.

I finally finished prying out the arrow as much as I could to allow Damon to remove it without the bomb exploding. "Okay, I think that should be good."

Damon then yanked out the arrow and dropped it onto the table. After, we both left the trailer, and I drove Damon back to the boarding house in my car. When we got there, he picked up a bottle of Bourbon and went upstairs. I went straight to my room.

While in my room, I sat on my bed and contemplated whether or not I was going to go to Rebekah's party. If I go, it would mean that I choose to forgive her, or at least willing to hear her out. If I don't, then it shows that I won't. After a few more minutes of thinking, I glanced at my closet in thought.

* * *

When I got to Rebekah's house, I saw a whole bunch of students outside and drinking from a keg. All in all, everyone seemed to have been having a great time. As I walked around, I saw Elena and Stefan near Rebekah. I got closer, but they didn't notice me.

With a smirk, Elena looked at Rebekah and walked over to the keg that people were drinking from. Curious, I watched as Elena placed her hands on the sides of the keg and did a handstand, causing someone to stick a beer hose in her mouth. My lips turned up in an amused smile as everyone around her started chanting, "Chug! Chug! Chug!". After a few moments, Elena stopped drinking, came back down to the ground, and wiped the excess beer from her lips.

" _Now_ I'm ready to go." Elena smiled as Stefan handed her bag to her, and they walked away together.

Looking back at Rebekah when Elena and Stefan had left, I noticed that she was looking as though she was become dizzy, which worried me despite knowing she was practically impossible to kill. When she walked back into her house and into a bathroom, I followed right after.

She became horrified to see darkened veins pulsing throughout her face."What the hell?" She then saw my face staring at her through the mirror.

"My thoughts exactly."I walked closer to her. "We should get you somewhere isolated before someone sees you."

Nodding, Rebekah lead me to her room and closed the door behind us. In a daze, she sat at a desk and looked at her arm where her blood vessels were also darkening.

I sat on her bed. "You don't look so good."

"Whatever it is, it's not the white oak stake, so it can't kill me."She got up and sat next to me. "I was hoping you would come."

"I'm not going to stop being your friend just because of one stupid argument. I just had to let my anger go first."She smiled at me."I'll be back. I want to see if this is happening to other people as well."

I got up and left the room, making sure I closed the door. I walked around to see if anyone else was like Rebekah, but realised that this was most likely supernatural. Since I couldn't find anyone else who wasn't human at the party, I gave up looking. When I was about to go back to Rebekah, April walked up to me.

"Hey, have you seen Elena." She smiled at me.

I nodded. "Yeah, she left with Stefan not too long ago."

She looked down in disappointment. "Oh."

"Yeah, uhh, well I gotta go."I walked back to Rebekah's room.

When I got inside, I saw Rebekah blink, almost in a trance, and look around the room confused. She seemed both relieved and terrified.

"What happened?" I slowly walked towards her after I closed the door.

She shook her head. "Just a hallucination."

"Are you okay?" I became worried.

"Of course." She laid on the bed and patted the spot next to her.

Smiling slightly, I crawled onto the bed and laid on my back. Almost right after, she grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

After a few moments she spoke up. "I'm sorry about Kol leaving."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Why are you sorry?"

"I know you liked him, and for some time I believed the same could be said for him. From what I understand, there was even something between the two of you." She turned her head to face me, so I did the same. "So, I'm sorry that Kol left."

I smiled sadly at her. "I knew what I was getting into when I started… whatever that was with Kol. I guess you could call it a sort of friendship with side benefits. Well, it doesn't matter anymore I guess, but thank you."

"I am curious, though. How did whatever you had with my brother even start?" She raised an eyebrow. "I only know what you told me about it the day I asked you to watch Sage."

"He was… interesting. Fun. Surprisingly kind even." I bit my lip. "Well, when we were at D.C. we stayed in a hotel, found what I needed, then fell asleep. Though we had separate beds, however, Kol pulled me onto his bed for some reason. I was too tired, so I didn't bother moving. He was gone by the time morning came.

"The next time I was him is when Klaus asked me to go and see if he made a mess in Denver or not. It was after everything with my mother started, so I just agreed. When I got there he explained what he was doing there after I wouldn't stop asking, then took me with him to see Jeremy. That was the day Damon almost killed me. I mean he would have if it hadn't been for Kol's blood, but yeah. Anyways…"

She interrupted me. "Wait, Kol gave you his blood?"

"Yeah." I was confused.

Her eyes widened in surprise. "So you just asked him, and he just gave it to you?"

I shook my head slightly. "I didn't ask him at all. What's the big deal? I mean, it wasn't the first time."

"Kol doesn't just go around giving his blood freely, Eva." She stared at me. "What were the other times?"

"I just figured he did it since I was friends with you." I shrugged. "And, well, the first time was at the hotel in D.C. I let him drink from me, but he took too much, so he gave me some of his blood to help. Denver was the second time."

Rebekah sat up. "Wait, how many times have you given him your blood exactly."

I sat up as well. "The first was the night you were all undaggered, but you knew about that. The second was in D.C., which I just told you about. The third and last was in Denver."

"I'm surprised he hasn't killed you. Well, just continue on with your story then. You left off with Kol saving your life." She laid back down, pulling me along with her.

I got comfortable. "Right. Well, after throwing Damon and Elena off the trail of who sire their line, we went back to the house Kol was staying in at the time. At the house we… talked. Then somehow we ended up making out on a couch which didn't go too far since Elijah walked in on us."

She started to laugh. "Oh, poor Elijah."

When she stopped, I continued. "So, after that, I left. The next time I saw him after that was at the dance. We danced, he got stuck at the school, I went out with Jeremy and Matt to face your mother, then Kol kissed me again before leaving. The next day, I called him from my house, and he came over. We, uh, almost had sex before Klaus called and needed him. That's how I ended up with all of those marks all over my chest. After that I was taken prisoner by Mr. Saltzman. The rest you know."

There was a long gap of silence before Rebekah finally spoke up. "You almost slept with my brother?"

I looked at her and saw that she looked weirded out. I couldn't help but laugh. Suddenly, the door opened, causing me to slowly stop. April hesitantly came in, then knocked on the door.

"Hey."April picked up some empty cups from the ground and threw them in a garbage can she was carrying."Way to bail on your own party."

"I just. I needed a minute. Did everyone leave?" Rebekah got off the bed.

April nodded. "Yeah, deputies weren't actually super-happy about the anti-curfew party."

I sat up, but didn't bother getting off the bed. "Why are you still here?"

"Um, honestly? Picking up trash is a hell of a lot better than sitting at home alone thinking about the family you no longer have." She smiled bitterly.

Rebekah got up and walked towards April. "Hey, uh, if you want, I could... I could help you look into what happened with the fire at your farmhouse."

She became confused. "What are you going to be able to do that I can't?"

"You'd be surprised." Rebekah smiled at her.

Touched by Rebekah's kindness, April nodded. I smiled at the scene.

* * *

Hours later, I was back in the Salvatore Boarding House. While in my room, I was trying to take off the necklace I had on.

"Do you need help with that?" I jumped as Stefan's voice called to me from my door.

I laughed. "Yeah, I just can't seem to undo the clasp."

I lifted up my hair for him as he moved to stand directly behind me. "So, uh, you made up with Rebekah."

"I did. Is something wrong with that?"Stefan finally got the necklace off and places it in the jewelry box that was on my dresser.

"I just don't want anything to happen to you. Trouble likes to follow her family." He moved in front of me. "Plus, she killed Elena, Eva. If she had to choose between you or her family, she would do the same."

I bit my lip and looked away guiltily."Stefan, it's not that she really _wanted_ to truly kill Elena. She was just… upset at the moment."

Stefan looked confused for a moment, but then his eyes widened when he took in my expression. "Please tell me you didn't have anything to do with Elena's death."

"I didn't know she was going to try and kill her. I just thought that since Elena's life was connected to Mr. Saltzman's, then maybe they could find a way to bring her back." I looked back up at Stefan and saw how upset he was. "I suggested finding a spell that would make sure she would come back, or even maybe turning her into a vampire. When Rebekah went to kill her that night, though, she didn't know about the blood in her system."

"How could you do that, Eva?!" I flinched and stepped away from him. "Elena never wanted to be a vampire! How could you ruin her life like that?"

I became angry. "I never told Rebekah to run her and Matt off that bridge! I didn't tell her to kill Elena either, I just suggested she find a way to bring her back." Stefan suddenly winced."And she should be grateful that she isn't dead instead of whining and crying about being a vampire. If she didn't want to be one so badly then she should have chose to die."

As I spoke, Stefan clutched his head in pain and started sweating. Then, he snapped and sped towards me, taking me out of my room and pinning me to the railing of the staircase. I screamed and pushed his face to try and get him off, despite knowing how superior his strength was compared to soon as I touched him, however, my hands started burning his skin, and he began screaming. Suddenly, he was ripped off of me, and I almost fell over the railing from becoming unbalanced. Luckily, I was grabbed. Looking up, I saw that it was Damon who helped me.

Damon moved me behind him. "Stefan, what the hell are you doing?"

"She's the reason Elena's a vampire, Damon! And she started doing something to me." He was glaring at me.

"I heard everything, Stefan. It's not exactly her fault that Rebekah twisted it into something else." Damon turned to me and furrowed his eyebrows. "And what did you do to him?"

"I don't know." I frowned.

"Stefan, go to your room or something. Shoo."Glancing at Damon, Stefan glared at me one more time before leaving with a huff. Damon then turned to me and grabbed my shoulders. "Go change into your pyjamas and grab whatever you need to sleep."

I looked up at him in confusion. "Why?"

He sighed. "You're sleeping in my room with me for safety measures. Not that I really care, but Stefan won't exactly forgive himself if he does something to you."

"Fine." I frowned but went into my room.

Quickly, I changed into her pyjamas and walked back out. I closes the door behind me and started following Damon to his room. Once inside, I saw that he had a large bed and became almost jealous of him because of it. While I was looking around, Damon left to the bathroom to change. When he walked out, he laid down on one side of the bed.

"Well?" He was looking at me expectantly.

I blinked. "Oh, right, sorry."

I climbed onto the other side of the bed and went under the covers.

"Hey, Damon?" I closed my eyes and got comfortable.

He sighed. "What?"

"Thank you." I mumbled out then fell asleep.


End file.
